Shadowed Spirit
by CassieKnight
Summary: Layrial Adercon just wanted to be the best. She saw an opportunity and took it...but that meant going out to interview Cell, where she quickly decided was the wrong choice. R
1. Selfish Pride

**_Shadowed Spirit_**

**_Author's Commentary:_** If only you could see the wonderful font I used for the title in my own personal edition of this—it looks rather cool (Matura MT Script Capitals if anyone cares). But first of all, a big hoorah! to my gal AVC who totally helped pull out ideas for this story. In turn, this piece is dedicated to her and I had her name my main character and give her a quick description. I own nothing in this story except for my writing style, etc. and only write such things for my own pleasure and for yours as well. Things will be twisted around compared to the actual events in the series, so please take note. And, of course, the best setting, as you will see, will be during "the wait" of the Cell Games—(yes, I understand that that's the most obvious place writers tend to lean towards)—just because it's the easiest and most 'perfect' point in the DBZ plot to get Cell all into a dither (I do like that word). I suppose at this point that I should mention I'm kind of a little rusty on my DragonBall Z knowledge, seeing that my huge obsession with it wore off several years ago and I made the choice to move on to other programs and movies. I have my brother to thank for getting me a DBZ game that hooked me enough that not only do I want to write this, but I refuse to be any other character in that game except Cell ;) One last thing—this story is being posted in different segments at different times, only because I want to get it out there. Normally I like to finish something before posting, but I want to see how much I can screw up the plot since I won't technically be able to go back ;) A test, if you will, to see how well I can formulate something after making previous decisions. How Cell-like. _Now_ I'm done babbling….

* * *

**Chapter 1: **_Selfish Pride_

I will admit I'm not a brave girl, although I do tend to throw myself into things before letting my mind think it over and see what will actually happen to me; which, I suppose, could make me a brave person, if only I kept that boldness and even stupidity with me through the journey. I like to linger on with my words too; I think it gives me a sense that I might actually know what I'm doing when in reality people stand back and start whispering. It's always been that way. But I like to hear my own voice. I like to be right. I like to be on top.

High school annoyed me something awful. There were three-hundred kids in my class. I was ranked number 49. Yes, that is good, but it wasn't good enough because there were 48 people higher me. I probably could've been the top student, but at the time my mind was elsewhere—boyfriends, friends, hanging out at the mall, driving around town in the brand new car my parents bought for me. I had it good. I really did.

So where did it all go wrong?

Thinking back I remember going off to college and living the life every kid pretty much thinks of when they move away from home, although I might have had it a tad bit better. I didn't have to get a job to pay for it—my parents did that for me. I went to a good school, lived in a decent dorm with some pretty cool roommates, and I partied every weekend like it was spring break. Now I look back at that life and I don't quite understand what the point was. I guess I wanted to be that top kid like I always had before. I was usually always popular with people, even teachers and such, but it was never enough. Anyone that challenged that side of me usually got the cold shoulder and somehow, without me even really realizing, it was an endless battle to answer the questions first and present the best projects.

I guess you can call it selfishness. I call it being the second child who was always compared to the elder sibling; who was the daughter of a vice-president of a company and a mother who was practically as perfect as a house-wife-mother could get. I was the small one of the family, the one everyone only turned to when the news on others got old. I think that's why I strived to be the best. It has to be, right?

I ended up graduating with a 3.5 GPA, which is fair enough considering I slacked off quite a bit because as time went on during those college years I felt it more important to develop a social life than to intellectually challenge myself. My parents moved up north for an early retirement and my brother married, had a kid and moved away too. I could've gone with them, but I chose to stay here in Eastern City. I already knew the place and the place knew me. I was Layrial Adercon, and I was jumping into the world at a high speed knowing that I would succeed and live without worry! I will be the best! A perfectionist who will top all those other kids on the block and show them who's the strongest!

I _was_ Layrial Adercon. That girl faded away, although yes, she still is here, but definitely not the same person. A few years down the road I slowly learned that life comes at you fast—sometimes a little too fast. I got a job as a reporter, but I learned that perhaps it was an attraction to my face more than my wit that got me that position. Yet I wasn't getting what I wanted, and like a spoiled little kid, I sulked and probably made others want to slap me across the city. Two years and I wasn't the top reporter…I was _only_ third best. Marco Mendon was number one. Cerise Delnor was number two. Layrial Adercon was ranked further below them and was only used for the top stories when the other two were on a vacation in the Alps or Paris.

It really hurt—badly. My ego was bruised so much in one week I could've screamed loud enough to shatter the windows in every office on the floor of that building. "Marco's on a job in the United States—can you go see about…" "Cerise is getting married and is taking the month off—guess we'll have to throw you in."

It was jealousy. I know now that it was jealousy. I knew even then it was jealousy, but I didn't want to admit it and let myself starting thinking that I had in no way become what I had hoped for. It was that selfish side of me playing out—I didn't get what I wanted quickly enough. Two years was much too long.

So here I am, thinking back and realizing that I was better off at that point. Maybe. If it had stayed that way I would've remained that spoiled brat that cried herself to sleep when she didn't get what she wanted. I might've eventually worked my way up like every other human being did. Though in a way….I think I might've become a better person after things went down. Actually, I know I've become a better person. Fancy clothes, pretty jewelry and manicured nails mean nothing to me now. They're just material things that only made me feel like I was above everyone else. I wasn't. My pride got me into enough trouble that I have to say, was a pain in the ass to get out of. I learned—slowly—but I did learn.

I remember it as if just happened a few hours ago. I took a brief vacation, but before even returning home I had been sent to the south part of the country to cover some political crap I had no interest in. I'm not a fan of politics—at all. But it was my job and to get to where I wanted to be, I had to go down there and listen to endless speeches and reports, hear crowds cheering and booing, and see enough posters and banners plastered around the streets to make me wonder if people had anything better to do with their lives. I returned May 9th, after having spent my last two days in boring hotel room in a part of town that lost its electricity due to some freak tidal wave that took out the power plant. I was supposed to be there longer, but finally I just picked up and left. I had better things to do. If my manager didn't like it then that was too bad. I was at the point where if I got fired, it didn't matter—I'd find something better.

Well…returning home made my stomach do more flips than I thought possible. It was almost like a ghost town, with the exception of every highway that led out of town was jam packed with cars. Stores were empty and closed. Corporations were open, but no cars sat outside on the street except for a few workers. I had no idea what was going on—I figured an air raid or something.

I knew that the station wouldn't close down for anything—Sazuke was stubborn and he wanted to make sure his people were the ones who stayed to laugh in the face of danger. My assumptions were correct, too. I entered the lobby to discover that although several secretaries were missing, people were hustling around as if the world was about to end.

How was I supposed to know that it was true?

I went to the second floor where the main studio was located and found there were several arguments. I stood in front of the now-closed elevator door and watched the commotion. People were on the phone, running in and out of cubicles, and camera men were packing up for a road trip. I noticed Sazuke off to the side in front of his office, practically biting the head off of Cerise. I'll admit I was more than pleased to see this. I know the difference between an unhappy Sazuke and a pissed off Sazuke, neither of which I like to experience, mind you. And this time…the latter was definitely the form he took now. I headed up to get a better tune-in on what he was saying and why Cerise was yelling back at almost the same pitch. Marco seemed to be nowhere in sight, which was unusual—he liked to be the center of attention.

"I don't give a damn about your stress level!" Sazuke was practically yelling loud enough to make his voice threaten to give out. "I need you out there!"

"I'm NOT risking my life for your ass!" Cerise returned. "You want to put your people's lives in danger, then fine! But you're not doing it to me! I've got better things to do than find myself lying in pieces on the ground!"

At this point Sazuke had noticed me standing there and I eagerly stepped in for the only reason to make Cerise mad that I was taking away her opportunity to yell at our boss.

"Layrial, talk some sense into this woman," Sazuke said, his face so red that I thought he was about to burst. I could see a vein on the top of his half-bald head almost to the point it was throbbing.

"Dare I ask why?"

Cerise turned to me, her stealth blue eyes bearing down on me beneath jet-black hair. "He wants me to go out and interview this Cell character. I know when my life is at stake, and I'm not going."

"Who?" I asked stupidly.

"Cell!" Sazuke replied in near-outrage. "You know—the monster that terrorized Nikki Town a few days ago?"

I thought for a moment, and then nodded my head. "I heard something about it, but remember—I was busy doing that stupid political thing you sent me on. I barely had time to breath with all that stuff going on."

"That's not the point anymore," he told me, a tad bit calmer. "Cerise, you're the best report I've got and you might be able to charm him enough to get some answers."

"Forget it," she replied defiantly and crossed her arms over her chest.

I thought it over in my head for a moment and then it clicked—she was technically second best…what happened to Marco? I asked Sazuke that very question and he looked angry again.

"That idiot took off—just got up and walked out the moment he heard the broadcast from that monster." Sazuke turned his attention back to Cerise. "I'll give you a raise."

"What part of 'no' don't you understand?" she asked.

At that point I jumped in. This was my chance to shine, and a chance to embarrass Cerise in front of the boss just couldn't be passed up. "I'll go for you. I'm not afraid of that Cell character."

Both heads turned and stared at me with wide eyes—I'm not sure who was more surprised with my statement. But Cerise's look turned into an expression of pure despise and I could tell that she wished she had agreed before I opened my mouth…in ways, it might've been better if she had.

Sazuke, on the other hand, got over it and beamed proudly, standing up as straight as his short body would let him. "Excellent! I'll get a crew for you—be ready within an hour."

Why I agreed I have no idea. I didn't even bother to go home, which I knew was a mistake too. I had skipped breakfast that morning, and my stomach couldn't handle lunch, so I went hungry. I don't know how much time I spent getting ready for this to-be interview, but I know I was in the dressing room for a while. Being a top-paid reporter definitely had its advantages other than the paychecks. We're privileged to our own little common room completely with a comfy sofa, television, and mini-kitchen. Naturally we each have our own, very small, dressing room. And I love mine. It's decked out with all my favorite movie posters and a large picture of me with one of my favorite actors.

So naturally spending time in it doesn't bother me. I had dragged my suitcases up there and searched through them—I knew I had one outfit I hadn't worn during my time at the conferences. My hands shook with excitement as I put it on and checked myself in the large wall mirror; rayon black pants that had that "swishy" movement whenever I turned, a black silky tank top with lace bordering the top edge and a white blouse with little clear rhinestones placed in an intricate pattern on the sleeves and front now gave me that feeling that I looked damn good and no one could resist. That's my ego playing out, for you.

My hair wasn't too bad, but I fixed it up a little—when I usually go out on interviews I pull it back into a knot using a huge clip to keep it there. My hair's layered enough where not all of it can reach back that far, but I think it gives me a decent look. When the dark blue strands frame my face it gives color to my gray eyes, I guess—at least that's what my sister-in-law had once said. I don't like her much.

Silver jewelry, a bit of perfume and I was set. I took one final glance in the mirror and I was pleased at what I saw. At first I grabbed high-heals, but after I heard that our destination was the desert (of all places) I quickly changed them to semi-casual black boots. I didn't need to break my leg out there—been there, done that.

I met up with the camera crew outside. They were waiting for me by the big white van with the letters "WMTV" plastered on all sides. Sazuke stood out to see us leave and when I was buckled into the passenger seat, buckled up, my stomach flipping like an acrobat, I knew there was no turning back.


	2. The way it shouldn't have been

**Chapter 2: **_The way it shouldn't have been_

I think I may have dozed off for a while during our trip to the location Sazuke had given us. I never saw it, but he claims that this Cell creature invaded one of our competitors—ZZTV—and broadcasted to the whole world what he was going to do and where. I didn't even really ask exactly what this plan was until we were out of the city—it hadn't been in my best interest to know until now.

"He said he's holding a martial arts tournament," Chuck told me. He was our camera man. "I didn't see it live, but we got a hold of the tape from them early this morning."

"A martial arts tournament, huh?" I remember when I was a kid how my brother absolutely loved the martial arts tournaments. He never missed a broadcast and one year we were lucky enough to go to one that had been sold out. I didn't really see the point of jumping around and smacking people, but that's just me. Give me a trip to the beach any day.

"He's not even human!" Taka remarked. "You should see that face! I mean, he's got all these colors and some weird thing on his head…and what he did before he left made me freak out. I don't know why I agreed to come out here with you guys!"

"Because you were offered a raise like I was and chance to get a boost into your acting career," Chuck said. "Just keep driving, okay?"

"Yeah, sure thing chief," Taka said dimly. "If I die, I'll come back and haunt you."

I laughed. They were odd at times, but both of them kept me amused. Taka was fresh out of college, but his degree for acting landed him as the bus-boy, so to speak. He was cute enough—short, pale, thin—and he had this funky hairstyle that I've never seen anyone get away with without the word "freak" coming to mind. He was unique alright, but I loved him anyway. Chuck, on the other hand, had a calm and smooth disposition, but he wasn't afraid to speak his mind. He was older than me and knew a hell of a lot more, but I trusted him with my life. If anyone could protect us from this whacko he could. He had the scar on his face to prove that he had been in fights before.

I didn't ask many more questions about this Cell guy, figuring if they told me too much I'd lose my nerve and demand to go back. I needed this though—I had the confidence to do it right and when I got back Sazuke would be praising me like I was a queen.

"Hey Layrial," Taka said and I opened my eyes. With the slight grogginess I felt I was sure I had fallen asleep. I sat up a little straighter and looked out the window. "We're nearly there," he finished.

I looked around to see what I expected—nothing. It was as I knew it to be—dirt, mountains and rocks. There were some grassy patches here and there, but otherwise that was it. I looked over my shoulder and saw Chuck was replacing the lens on the camera in the back. Taka looked nervous, but didn't say anything about it. Was this Cell creature that bad? The description Taka had said about him 'not being human' struck me and I wondered what he meant by it. I heard the reports about the monster in Nikki Town and all I could think of was some green alien with huge ugly eyes, four arms and a big head. I never saw the picture of him, if there was one, but my imagination liked to run whiled sometimes.

"How far are we?" I asked, trying to get a glimpse at the distance gauge, but it was at a bad angle.

Taka glanced down for a moment. "About 24 miles from the station," he replied. "Only four more to go."

I sighed and looked out the window, using my arm as a leaning post for my head. I was starting to get hungry and although I knew there was usually snacks in the back I didn't dare eat them yet with my nervous stomach. For someone that was so used to being in the spot light amongst peers, you'd think I would be handling this easier.

Taka was usually a speed demon, but today he was going much slower. I could tell he wasn't happy. Actually, I bet I could guess exactly what was on his mind. From what I've heard, Cell murdered hundreds of people—nearly an entire town!—and now he threatened the whole planet by claiming if no one could beat him in this tournament he'd destroy everything and everyone. I highly doubted that; no one could do such a thing by themselves without some military ensemble at their fingertips. But I did wonder what he would do when he saw us show up. Would he try to kill us? Or would he just tell us to get lost and make me push my way into his head to get answers?

"Look," Taka said in a broken voice and pointed out the window. Chuck moved up and looked over the front seat between us. I turned my head to look directly forward and I saw what my young friend was looking at. In the near distance was something white, something that was definitely out of place with the rest of the landscaping.

"That it?" Chuck asked.

"I think so," I said and looked at the note with the directions. "Are we 28 miles in area S, point five?"

Taka's eyes shifted to the navigator screen on the dashboard. "Yeah…27 and a half."

I saw him try to swallow the lump in his throat. Chuck said nothing, but I noticed the sweat forming at his hairline. I, on the other hand, tried to get prepared for anything that could happen. I pulled out my haughty attitude that usually intimidated people enough to speak without pushing me away. I looked behind towards Chuck and asked him where my microphone was.

"Shit, there he is," Taka said and took his foot off the gas to let the van coast.

I turned back around and saw a figure standing in the center of what I could now make out as a square, white fighting ring, complete with four cone-shaped pillars at each corner. I could tell that this Cell guy was wearing green and black and what appeared to be some sort of black cape, but any other features were still too small to see at our distance.

"Just keep driving," Chuck said again and handed me my cordless microphone. I clutched it in my right hand and stared at it like I had never seen it before. Was I ready for this?

_You bet_, a small part of my mind confirmed. _But…be ready to run…just in case._

I held my breath as we neared the end of the paved road—it seemed to have been chopped off suddenly, as if someone came in and decided they wanted it to end without it leading anywhere.

"Guys, I can't go out there," Taka said, his face starting to turn a pale shade of green.

"Get a hold of yourself," I said.

"Whatever you took to keep yourself calm give me some because I'm about to lose my mind here!"

I said nothing. Before the van rolled off the edge of the road, Taka stopped and put it in park. He was practically hyperventilating, but he was the first to open the door. I sat still for a moment and looked at Cell from where we were. We were something around twenty meters from him, but I could see him in full view just the same. And I was surprised at what I saw.

Taka was right—he wasn't human. At least, not dressed like one. What I thought to be a black cape turned out to be some sort of stiff, decorative wings that reminded me of a cockroach. His body was speckled green, with the exception for his shins and calves, chest and shoulders—they were a shiny black. His head was incased with some sort of strange looking helmet that rose like a two-sided crown that too was green and the top of his skull round, smooth and black.

My face turned into disgust as I wondered what the hell was in this guy's head to think he might look cool or something. And the way he stood there, his left side to us with his head slightly cocked in our direction, I wondered who the hell he thought he was.

I opened the door and jumped out, fixing my blouse and making sure my hair was still neat. I leaned over and glanced in the side mirror of the van and was fairly satisfied with my face's appearance. Chuck appeared behind me with the camera hoisted on his shoulder.

"Ready?" I asked.

"No," Taka said, but followed us anyway.

I walked defiantly ahead of both of them, my back straight and head high. I wasn't afraid…I refused to be afraid…

I neared the edge of the ring and from where I stood I could see that I was partially wrong on my vision of this…thing. He wasn't completely green. His neck was a grayish-white, jaw outlined with a yellow plate, and next to that was a bit of purple before the rest of his face took on the same coloring as his neck. He looked human enough to me, which gave me the impression he was in some dorky-looking costume to hide his identity.

_This is it Layrial…there's no turning back!_ Although when I gazed up to those cold and stern magenta eyes I wondered if there was any logic in my decision to be out here.

To get onto the ring's platform I'd have to take a giant step up, since it was built nearly half my height from the dirt ground. I glanced over to see where Chuck and Taka were, and to my disappointment they weren't with me. Not exactly, that is. Chuck was several meters behind me, probably using the camera to zoom in for a better look and Taka was even further away than that. I sighed and made a mental note to smack them on our way home.

Cell kept his eyes on me as I climbed up and stood on the edge of the tiled ring. I gave him the best smile I could muster and continued to stand up straight as I made my way to him. My hand was a little sweaty around the microphone, but I ignored the fact that it could be nervousness; instead, I blamed it on the warm, late spring day.

"Good afternoon," I said, trying very hard not to let him notice any stress in my voice. I wasn't sure yet just how smart he was. "I'm Layrial Adercon and I'd like to engage you in an exclusive interview."

I waited for a moment to hear a reply, but none came. He still stared at me. I cleared my throat to continue and to get his attention just in case his head happened to be locked in my direction but nothing was sinking in through that thick helmet. "Well, let's start by asking why you decided to create a tournament on your own? And why way out here?"

Again no reply came and I could feel my stomach turning the nerves off so the rest of my body could feel my blood start to heat up. For a second I thought he was going to actually be polite and turn towards me instead of looking at me from the side, but instead his eyes closed and head turned to the front of where he stood.

I was starting to get agitated. I looked over to where Chuck and Taka stood and was a bit happier to see they both moved closer and were nearly at the ring side. I looked back at Cell and put my hands on my hips. "Excuse me, didn't you hear me? Are you deaf or something?"

"The stupidity amongst you humans is almost shocking."

My eyes widened and my body relaxed a bit when I heard him speak. It wasn't what I expected him to say…not to mention his voice was no were near what I pretended to already know. His words came out smoothly in such a deep elegant voice that I almost forgot what he said. How could someone who spoke so clearly and delicately be dangerous?

It came back to me though. "Excuse me?" I repeated again.

His eyes opened and he barely turned his head back enough to face us again. "I believe you are the one hard of hearing," he said and it was then I realized that not only did his voice have that sort of flair you get from the Romeos in romantic movies, but he had an accent to go along with it—light British, I think.

"You're the second news crew to come out here in the same day," he continued, obviously caring nothing about my first two questions. "If I had wanted more publicity I would have sought it, but you people are insistent on doing things your way."

"Excuse me?" I really wish I would learn to say something else…I don't know what provoked me to say it for a third time.

Obviously he thought the same thing. "Is that all you're able to say now? It seems the big flashy reporter is losing her sudden nerve for an exclusive interview."

"I'm fine, you jerk, so answer my questions!" Where that came from, I have no idea.

"I think not," he said and it was at that point he turned completely towards us. His body was…large. I could see every muscle in his arms, torso and legs, not an ounce of him being made of fat. He was a little strangely put together around the stomach and hips, but I didn't bother picking him apart any further once he uncrossed his arms.

"Do you want to get paid or something? I'll call up my manager and he'll write you a check. Then maybe you can answer my questions." The harsh look in his eyes should've been enough to tell me to shut up.

"Ignorant fool," he said and his arm started to elevate, becoming parallel to the floor beneath his yellow feet.

Before I realized it, I heard Taka yell out and the moment I turned my head to see him running like mad something bright and hot flew by me, making me lose my balance. I tried twisting around as I fell on my backside, but I wish I hadn't. Cell shot something—something I can't even begin to describe other than a bright white flash—that streaked towards Taka. There was a sharp yell, a loud bang, and then the dust from the ground blurred my vision of everything else.

Chuck had slanted the camera on his shoulder so it was pointing towards the ground and although I could barely see his face, I knew he was appalled. My whole body became paralyzed and I couldn't get my mouth to close. I looked on as the dust cleared…and to my own horrified thoughts there was nothing there except a burnt spot on the ground.

"Holy shit," Chuck said and zipped around to look at me. I thought that maybe he'd come grab me, but instead he dumped the camera and ran for his life.

I tried to get to my feet to follow after him, but my sweaty hands slipped on the cold, smooth surface of the tiles and I remained in the same spot. I looked on helplessly at Chuck as he headed towards the van, but in a heartbeat I heard something fly by me. I couldn't believe what I was seeing—Cell had taken flight and was heading effortlessly towards Chuck faster than I've ever seen—and his feet weren't even close to the ground.

I screamed out the minute Chuck turned around and yelled in Cell's face. The guy…no…the monster didn't even plant his feet back on the ground before he kicked Chuck's terrified body into the air. My head drew back and I watched with my hands over my mouth as he flew high enough that he was nothing but a small dot against a blue background. I heard a brief chuckle somewhere in front of me and then another lightening shot came from the creature's hand…and destroyed Chuck in mid-air.

I wanted to scream; I wanted to cry, but I was so scared that neither of those two emotions would work. I tried to get up again, and when I realized I had twisted my ankle from slipping during my first attempt to run the tears started to hit. They escaped when Cell turned back at me and slowly walked back to his arena, every step he took making an odd squeak.

Frozen to the spot, I sat there and watched him approach; his mouth curled into an arrogant smile, his sharp eyes so-sure-of themselves, proving that he took delight in his actions. And it was at that point I realized that my decision to be better than everyone else was the biggest, not to mention dumbest thing I've ever done.


	3. Lucky day it was not

**Chapter 3:** _Lucky day it was not_

Cell's tall form approached, his right hand on his hip, his face looking very proud and pleased with himself. I tried desperately to find my voice so I could beg for mercy, although a small part of my brain told me he wouldn't listen. I managed to scoot back, but I don't know why I bothered. After the two murders I witnessed, I dared to think he'd play with me like he was a cat and I was a mouse. Taka and Chuck had no chance—what made me think I had one?

My dry mouth opened and I was able to get out a, "Please."

At first I didn't think he heard me. Oh, how I wish he hadn't heard me. It was a stupid thing to say. In fact, I think it convinced him more to pull me apart limb by limb. I vaguely recall asking myself how dangerous he could be with such a lovely voice. Now I wish I never asked such a thing because that danger level spilled over the top.

"Please?" He repeated in a mocking tone. "Are you begging me to spare you?"

I nodded and tried to stand up, but my legs were much too shaky.

"So what should I do with you?" He asked when he met the edge of the ring. He put one foot on the platform and leaned on that knee with one arm. If it was a different situation, a different person, I'd say his face was almost…handsome.

I cleared that thought immediately. "You should let me go…"

My words made him break out into an audible laugh, his eyes tightly shut and head thrown back as he laughed up a storm. "You must be joking," Cell replied when his hysterics calmed. "You made the mistake of coming here, so you must deal with your fate."

"I…I…" It was all I could get out. If I could fly like he could I would've been gone ages ago. As it is, I don't know why my body was so stiff instead of attempting to run away.

Cell stepped up on the arena floor and finished closing in the distance between us. I stared up at him with wide eyes. I figured my makeup was running all over my face from my tears. At one point I felt like throwing up, but even then I figured I was too scared to do so.

"I'm amazed at how frightened you are after you displayed such a strong character when you arrived," he commented, his eyes sparkling in the sun. There was just something about his eyes that caught me.

"Wouldn't you be if you were me?" Finally! My voice had returned, even if it was a little scratchy.

"I would have used my head and not come out here if I knew what would happen," he said rudely.

I frowned. "I didn't know anything about you! I was out of town until this morning!"

"Keep your tone normal, woman," he snapped. "Your attitude will only bring about your demise quicker."

"Then kill me already!" I yelled, finally getting my nerve back. "You wasted no time murdering my friends, so why do you hesitate now?"

Cell smirked and looked down at me without moving his head to do so. "I wanted to stare at that pretty face a little longer before I twisted it into nothing."

My heart stopped beating. I didn't know how to take that statement. He had just tried flattering me, yet he already predicted what he was about to do to me. My emotions were so confused I wanted to burst out in rage. "You lie…"

Of all things to say to him, I said that. I don't know what had come over me, but I knew it was a huge mistake before it even finished rolling off my tongue. His face frowned and his eyes narrowed. He reached out and grabbed my neck, his long white-gray fingers enclosing around my throat tightly. I could feel my feet slowly leave the ground and panic struck me hard.

"I do not lie," he said in a low voice that was so cold I could feel the ice on my face. My oxygen intake was being minimized quickly and painfully. My hands had instantly jumped to grab his wrist, my muscles contracting to their limit to try to lift myself up so it wouldn't hurt like it was. If I was thinking clearly I would've realized that what was on him was no costume—it was actually his body. His hand was what I hadn't expected—smooth and warm instead of rough and cold. His arm itself was a little different, but more along the lines of a fake, soft leather.

"P-please," I gasped, a tear leaking from the corner of my eye. I began to feel my lungs stop working; my body was getting heavy and I wanted to go to sleep. I realized I was dying, but I also knew there was nothing I could do about it.

"I—" Cell started, but for whatever reason he had stopped. My eyes were half closed by now, so I barely noticed that he turned his head to look behind him. I felt his hand release some of the pressure and I wondered why he was going backwards with his actions.

"I see I'm just in time, Cell," another man's voice said. I forced an eye open, but I couldn't see anything behind my captor. The voice sounded stern and confident, but somehow I knew he wasn't friends with this monster.

"Ah, Goku, you're later than I figured you'd be, but I suppose that makes no difference now." Cell had turned slightly, probably to allow himself more freedom of sight instead of stretching his neck.

"Let her go, Cell," the other said softly, yet firmly.

"Why? I don't think its any of your business what I do with her."

"As a matter of fact," my maybe-to-be hero started, "I think it is. She's no concern of yours."

"It's her own fault she trespassed on my territory. She will receive whatever I give her."

Cell's hand had loosened a tad bit more, and I wondered if it was because there was a witness. Maybe he wanted the pleasure of killing me in private. I didn't care at that point though; it was giving me a chance to get more air and I was thankful for it. I begged the heavens that this man would save me.

I was able to move my head only slightly, but enough so my eye could strain itself to see who the other voice belonged to. He was human as far as I can tell, with wild blonde hair. Shorter than Cell, but built muscle-wise just the same. I started to believe him to be my savior and my mind started preparing a thank-you I'd give him later.

"Right now you're fight is with me, Cell," the man said. "Don't kill her."

Cell didn't reply at first, but finally I felt my feet touching the ground and his hand moved away from my throat. My own hands went up and grasped my neck, wondering if it was true, that I was free from the torment. This guy did it! He got Cell to spare me!

"You intrigue me, Goku," Cell said finally. "I'll make a deal with you. If you fight me first on the day of my Cell Games, I'll allow this girl to live until then."

I had been happy until he spoke. My eyes went wide and my jaw nearly dropped. Did I just hear him right? Did he just say "until then"? I wanted this guy, Goku I suppose his name was, to pound Cell into the ground and make him pay for killing my friends. What was he waiting for!

"What do you mean, until then?" Goku asked, as if he knew exactly what I was questioning in my own head.

Cell chuckled lightly and clutched my upper arm tightly. I gasped and looked at him fearfully and then at the blonde-haired man. "Honestly, Goku, do you really think I wouldn't keep some sort of insurance? I don't want you to go against our agreement and save yourself until last."

"I haven't agreed to anything yet," he replied, although I was mentally yelling at him to agree at least.

Cell pulled me closer to his own body and I saw the meanest look I've ever seen on someone before. "Don't push me, Goku," Cell said. "The girl's fate lies in your hands. If you find it unfair, I'll kill her right here, right now."

"Say yes!" I yelled out, but drew no attention to myself.

Goku was looking at me now, and whether he was trying to telepathically transmit something to me, I don't know. I tried to look at him as if begging for him to help me, but he said nothing for a long moment.

"I'm growing impatient, Goku," Cell told him, and for once I agreed for I was getting the same way.

"What will you do with her in the meantime," Goku asked.

Cell smiled. "I'll keep her here until then. I don't want to be bothered with trying to find her later. Besides, if I let her go, wouldn't that mean you won overall and what we agreed to was a pointless conversation? No, Goku. She'll stay here until the day of the Cell Games. Then, and only then, will I decide what to do with her."

"What? I thought you said you'd let me go!" I yelled at him and tried to pull away. I stopped when I realized that my efforts were futile and any further trying would make my arm rip off.

"I'll fight you first in the ring, Cell," Goku said, "but you must promise to do her no harm until then."

Cell released my arm. "Agreed."

I was exasperated. "No! You can't just think of me as some animal or prize! You can't leave me out here with him! Please! Take me with you!" I looked around for any sort of vehicle he used to get here, but the only thing I noticed now was the van. If he too could do some sort of flying like Cell could (I wouldn't put anything past anyone now) why couldn't he just take me too?

"You'll be safe," Goku told me, his face relaxing slightly as if to make me feel better.

But it didn't. "Safe? You call him safe? Did you see what he did to my two co-workers!"

They ignored me. The only thing they were interested in was staring each other down. My blood was boiling. I forgot about my fear for a moment as my body had a sudden urge to jump out and try to inflict some sort of pain on either of them; I didn't care which one, it didn't matter. Both were forgetting that I was a woman with needs! I couldn't survive twelve hours out here with this monster in the middle of nowhere.

"I look forward to our encounter, Goku," Cell said smoothly.

"Me too," Goku said with a sharp grin.

And then he was gone. I blinked several times to see if I had indeed seen him disappear. I looked around and it was true; he was nowhere around as far as I could see. During my investigation of the area for that strange man, Cell had turned and walked away from me. I turned around as well to face him, just to see where he was going. I figured he had a bag of tricks hidden somewhere around him and I knew I'd have to be alert and on my toes constantly for the next who-knew-how long.

Yet my guard was lowered a little when all he did was cross his arms and lower his head as if sleeping while standing. I was shocked. How could he just give up and become so calm so suddenly? He just killed two people, terrorized me, and argued with some guy that appeared out of thin air! Why couldn't I wake up from this nightmare?

I studied the distance the van was from me. I wondered—would I be able to run, get in, turn on the ignition and drive away before Cell had a chance to do anything about it? Probably not; with the speed I'd already seen him demonstrate, I'd be gone before my feet reached the dirt ground.

The creature still stood still, his back to me and displaying those cockroach wings and some odd looking thing that reminded me of a bee's stinger. Great…I'm being held hostage by a giant bug with a human-like face.

_But he can't kill you, that_ little part of my brain reminded. _He agreed…and he said he never lies._ Not that it'd make a difference. Maybe he would kill me—I'm sure he'd get his way no matter what at those Cell Games of his.

"Hey!" I yelled out to see if he'd turn. Whether he'd keep his promise or not, I had a feeling I'd be dead in the end anyway—so why bother not being bold? I can learn not to be afraid of him…hopefully. "Hey you!"

The bug didn't make a sound nor did even the smallest muscle twitch on his powerful body. Maybe he was asleep and I could make a great escape. I hesitated for a second, but took a few steps back as quietly as I possibly could. He remained motionless. Inside I rejoiced—this was my chance. He had no idea what I was doing.

I gingerly stepped back a few steps at a time, pausing to see if he took notice to me. And each time I was satisfied he was still asleep, I continued. When I reached the edge of the ring, I looked down to make sure there wasn't something I could step on that would alert him. When the way was clear, I bent down ever so carefully, placed one foot on the earth and then the second. He was still standing in place. I smiled and stepped back, making sure I didn't trip over a rock or something in the meantime.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed something—Chuck's camera. I wondered if I'd be able to pick it up without making a sound; that way I'd have a weapon to use if Cell did in fact come after me. I nodded to myself and moved sideways a little until I was able to reach for the piece of equipment. When I picked it up I heard a screw or something fall off, which probably became lose when it was dropped earlier.

I held my breath and looked up quickly. Apparently Cell hadn't heard it, even though it had hit a stone and made a small clinking sound. I stood frozen for the longest moment before getting a hold of myself. I had to keep going…I was halfway there!

I kept walking backwards as carefully as I possibly could, my hands tightly grasping the heavy camera, my arms ready to swing it at my captor. I glanced over my shoulder to see how close I was to the van. I wish Taka had turned it around; instead I'd have to turn it—it'll waste time. I'll have only a few seconds, if that, to get the hell out of there once he's heard the engine turn on; unless I'm really lucky and he's a heavy sleeper.

Okay…I was only a few meters away now. I was confident and ready. He still hadn't moved and I was pretty sure I'd be able to run and make it. I took a deep breath, prepared myself and turned as quickly. I ran as fast as I could, my twisted ankle yelling at me sharply for the torment I was putting it through. Until now I was able to ignore the pain, but I feared it'd give out completely and I'd lose probably my only chance.

I was at the van—I reached out to open the door.

And that's when I heard something appear behind me. I stared into the window of the driver's seat and the reflection I saw scared me out of my skin. I thank my brain for working quickly—I turned around and swung out the camera.

It shattered. He hadn't even moved and it shattered the moment it made contact with his shoulder. I dropped the pieces from my hands and backed up into the door of the van, my voice the only thing that was able to get away from all of this.

"Trying to escape?" That elegant voice asked, his eyes staring at me like I was nothing but a child. "Did you think I didn't know?"

I muttered something not even I could tell what it was, but then I asked, "H-how did…you…"

Cell smiled and crossed his arms over his broad chest. "Simple. I have explicit hearing and I could feel your pitiful life force moving. I knew where you were the whole time."

"You're pulling my leg," I said very softly, perhaps to test out that hearing of his.

"Oh I assure you, I'm not," he replied and his ability to respond to my soft words confirmed his statement. What he did next though, gave me a heart attack. His leg shot out next to my body and suddenly the van rolled over several times before landing on its side nearly a kilometer away. I turned and glared at it and then my eyes shifted to his still-out-stretched leg.

"I suggest you not try something so fool hardy again," he said. "It's been your lucky day to live, but Goku's threat doesn't bother me—I have no shame in killing you."

I gasped and jumped away. If it had been my lucky day I wouldn't be still standing here taking this from him. "But…but that means you'll have lied!"

Cell looked away as if thinking. "Perhaps," he said. "So lets not find out if I actually would end up lying—it wouldn't be very good manners, now would it?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. But he wasn't finished yet and I forced myself to pay close attention to his words. "Also, if I were you I'd not leave the area of my arena, understand?"

"Why?" I muttered with annoyance.

"Because it might provoke me." And with that he turned and _hovered_ back to the fighting ring. I stood there staring; just staring. What did I run into? What the hell did I do to deserve this?


	4. Swallow the pride swallow the fear

**_Author's Commentary:_** Ah, reviews have come at last! I was afraid you guys weren't going to bother with me ;) Just kidding, my friends. Even if I had one review that said "cool" or something similar, I'd keep going just because if I hadn't then they would be at a loss as to what happened—I hate it when I'm the reader and it happens to me. I'm babbling…something I have in common with Layrial ;)

_Ashley Moose_—thank you kindly :) You were the person that kept my interest in continuing because you commented :)

_Aquasage_—I'm not sure if it's the first or not, but I tried to come up with something that's a little different than what you usually see out there—otherwise there's no point to writing it because it wasn't at least half original. 'Tis also why this is written in the first person.

_SSJSkaterTrunks_—Interesting, to say the least! And I thank you for the compliment—I highly dislike out-of-characters because the reason why I read fanfics on them is because I adore the character as he/she is. Unfortunately up until now Cell hasn't had much of a role except just standing there (minus the Goku meeting) but I shall try to keep him true to his form—perfect ;)

* * *

**Chapter 4:** _Swallow the pride; swallow the fear_

I have no idea how long I stood there before finally making my way back over to a corner of the ring. I brushed away the dust and hopped up to sit, letting my legs dangle over the side. Once again Cell stood in the center of the ring with his back to me. I didn't have the guts to try to run away. Besides, my only means of escape now lay useless in the desert.

I remembered something my grandmother had once told me—treat others as you'd like to be treated. I vaguely wondered what good that would do in this situation. I hadn't said anything nice to this guy since we met, but how could I? How could I possibly give him the time of day after what he'd put me through in less than an hour?

I sighed and bowed my head. I was stuck and at the mercy of this creature. I didn't care about my job or anything anymore…all I asked from life was a chance to continue living it beyond this stupid arena. But the more I sat there and stared at my feet, the more I came to the realization that it most likely was just a dream.

I tried searching my brain for the information Sazuke had given me about these Cell Games—mainly when they were supposed to start. Yet I couldn't remember if he had even told me anything more than where it was going to be held. I wanted to cry so badly that I couldn't get myself too. It could be days until that time came and I knew I couldn't survive. It was bad enough I was away from civilization, something I realized I had been taking for granted, but I had absolutely no food, water, shelter—none of the basics that would keep me alive.

I wondered if Cell would grant me the right to speak and ask him just how long I'd have to wait it out. I turned around a bit and saw that he hadn't moved at all, again. How could he do that without his legs falling asleep or something?

"Umm," I muttered, hoping that his wonderful hearing would perk up and take in what I was trying to say. Alas, though, he didn't answer. If he had heard it, he was being rude and not answering. "Cell?" I got out softly, but hopefully loud enough for him to hear this time. Calling someone by such a word was a strange concept and I became slightly curious as to why he picked such an odd name.

"Cell," I repeated, "could I at least ask you a question?"

When he said nothing I sighed and turned back around, my eyes shifting to stare at a little bug crawling around in the dirt below my feet. Not only was I being held captive, but the man responsible wouldn't even respond to me unless I did something against him.

"I suppose so," I heard from behind. I turned around quickly to see if I had indeed heard him speak, but he still remained in the same position he had been since he returned to that spot.

"Well?" He asked and finally his head turned enough to let me see the side of his face.

I could feel my cheeks growing red for some odd reason, but I ignored it. "How much longer is it until your tournament starts?"

"Eight days," he replied promptly. My heart sank quickly. There was no way I could live eight days without even water. I was doomed. "Why?"

"Well, in case you didn't know, there's nothing out here to get food from, so how do you expect us to survive that long?" My voice remained timid, but I was happy enough to have had formed a decent sentence.

I could see a smile curl on the corners of Cell's white mouth. "I have no need for food like you humans do."

"Say what?" I asked, thinking that being out here like this has already impaired my hearing.

Cell turned to me gracefully, but kept his body straight and arms crossed. "I said I don't need the nourishment your kind requires. Standing out here for days will take nothing out of me except, perhaps my patience—although I'll be bold enough to say even those are capable of lasting for quite some time."

It was probably the most I ever heard him speak, but I was mesmerized by each word. Not only was it a treat to hear that voice, but the fact that he didn't need to eat was just so hard to believe. Then again, like I had said before, I wouldn't past him.

Then it hit me; he kept referring to "humans." It was then I started to really let it sink in that maybe he was in fact an alien. "What do you mean that we humans need stuff? I mean, aren't you—"

"No," he interrupted. "I am an android."

I looked at him, maybe with the hope of finding a fault in his expression that would tell me he was lying. But there wasn't anything. "That's impossible—you're too perfect to be an android."

"That I am," Cell smiled. "I am perfect; I'm so glad you've realized this without me even having to tell you."

"I'm not following…"

"No, I suppose I shouldn't expect you to," he stated and I frowned. "You see, I am an android made up of living cells taken from the greatest fighters this planet has ever seen. Each was constructed to unite and form what you see before you."

I blinked.

He continued; "My creator, Dr. Gero, created me for the sole purpose of extracting his revenge on this planet and after two long decades of absorbing the necessary bio-extract and searching inexorably for the two lower-form androids I had to absorb to achieve my perfect form, the time has come for me to bring about his dream. I am his ultimate creation. I have no flaws."

I blinked again. This guy was really full of himself. Yet I was able to get it all to sink in. I believed him enough to realize that he wasn't human, that much was for certain, and I've seen him display a freakish and unnatural talent of power. There was one thing left for me to ask now. "Is that why your name's Cell?" And that wasn't it.

Cell chuckled lightly. "You really are a senseless girl, aren't you?"

"I beg your pardon!" I snapped and got to my feet with his rude comment.

"You heard me right," he said. "If you had any sort of wisdom you would've been able to put two and two together."

I bit my lip and looked past him. He was right. "Well, that's not what I meant to say anyway."

"Oh really?" Cell said; the interest in his voice was so damn apparent it burned. "Then what was it you wanted to know?"

My eyes searched the tiles around me as if one of them would spell out exactly what it was I wanted to ask. Finally, after racking my mind hard enough, I came up with what I wanted to know, but was too scared to admit. "This revenge of yours…what does it entail?"

"You've already met Goku," he replied. "I must destroy him and his little friends he calls the Z Fighters. Then, once I've accomplished that—and take note it shouldn't be to hard—I will destroy this worthless planet and move on to the next."

"Bullshit," I said.

"What?" He said, his eyes showing a sudden change in emotion. His face was no longer smug, but irritated.

"I said bullshit," I repeated.

"I heard the vile word you spoke," he said. "What do you mean by it?"

"You can't destroy the planet—it's impossible without some sort of bomb and as far as I know there's nothing that can technically just wipe out the entire planet and erase it from the galaxy."

"That is where you are wrong," he said. "Let me demonstrate." I waited and watched, my eyes becoming wide as he held out his arm straight to his side. Like before, a small ball of light formed in his upright hand and then shot out like a bullet from a gun. The comet-like tail it left behind grew longer as the head made it's away across the desert. Finally, it disappeared into a mountain where for a moment I thought it just vanished. Then…the whole mountain exploded with such a force I had to shield my eyes in fear that debris would be sent towards me.

When all was quiet once again, I peered over my arms and saw that where there was once an enormous rock was now nothing but a cleared path. I gulped silently and my arms lowered to my sides slowly.

"Still doubt me?" He asked, bringing me back to life.

"No." It was all I could say. Nothing more I could possibly spit out mattered. He was not just powerful—he was miraculous in the wickedest sense possible. No wonder why he didn't even bother to tie me up or something. He didn't have to. I bet if he snapped my fingers my whole body would explode. And these Z Fighters he had spoken of must be nearly the same power-wise as he, otherwise why would he bother with them?

Cell's confidence was either a big show or it was true: he could destroy this planet easily. I don't know what he could do further than blowing up a mountain, but whatever he was capable of was much to scary for me to even try to imagine.

The only thing I could do now was sit and curl my legs up to my chest and hug them. I was at the mercy of this android and there was nothing I could do to free myself except pray. I wanted to ask him how he figured I'd be able to survive as long as two days, no less eight without sustenance. I didn't dare though. He might've not even have thought of such a thing when he made the agreement with the blonde man. I didn't want to get him angry and potentially injure me or something. One hit from him and I'd be cut in half without a doubt.

"What is your name, girl?"

My head came up from being buried in my knees and I glanced over my shoulder. "What?"

"I asked you your name."

"Why?"

"Are you incapable of answering the question?"

"No," I said and let a big sigh escape my lungs. "Layrial."

I waited for the comment—maybe he'd compliment me. I was always told it was an unusual, yet very pretty name.

"Well then, Layrial," he said smugly. "We have accomplished something."

"What? We now had introductions?" I asked bluntly.

"Beyond that," he said and then his face became dark with malevolence. "You now know who you're dealing with."


	5. Survival 101

**Author's Note:** Forgive me for not updating in a couple of weeks, but gaining a boy in your life starts to really tie up any free time ;) However, this chapter has been done for quite some time and I'm ashamed that I haven't posted it until now. 6 is half way done, so hopefully I'll get that to you wonderful people soon. Thanks for the reviews, by the way!

* * *

**Chapter 5: **_Survival 101_

Night fell slowly and every minute that passed I could feel the pain in my stomach become sharper. I was hungry; so very hungry. I vowed that if I had the chance to follow through I'd never skip a meal ever again. Not having breakfast was bad enough, but lacking any sort of food for the entire day was worse. A small urge sat behind me, telling me several times to get up and ask Cell if he could possibly do something about me starving to death.

My answer to that was, well, two things: one—I doubted he'd care; two—I didn't have the nerve to do so after what I saw him perform that day. I knew it was a terrible way to go, but it would eventually put me out of my misery. I looked at my watch; it was nearly seven o'clock. I had been up for over twelve hours now; I hadn't eaten in over twenty-four. I wondered how the body was able to survive near a week or more without food. I knew the lack of water would only go a day or more…but food? How did people survive? I was ready to give up right then and there!

My stomach made a terrible rumble and I feared Cell would burst out laughing. He didn't, which made me feel a little bit better. Actually, I think he really was asleep this time—his head was bowed down so much I was waiting for it to roll off his shoulders.

I sighed and looked around. And then…I realized something. The snacks in the van! We always had stuff in there in case we were on a long assignment and couldn't get away to go to a restaurant.

My heart sang and my stomach grew anxious. I let go of my legs and let them bend in order to raise myself to a standing position. However, I also realized that the last time I went for the van Cell not only stopped me, but kicked it aside. If he did that again my hope of any sort of food was gone.

There was only one thing to do; I needed to get his permission.

I stood up and brushed myself off. I was so hungry that I didn't care if there was a chance he'd slap me aside and kill me. I just wanted to try to get food. I stood up straight and cracked my knuckles before gathering the energy to walk defiantly over to where the tall android stood in his blissful silence.

When I was about my own body's length away next to him, I stopped and looked towards his peaceful face. I tried to figure out the best words in order to ask my question and get the right answer…

But he messed up my attempts. "What do you want?" He asked; his tone was hard to figure out.

"I was just wondering…" I paused. _C'mon Layrial! Get it out!_ "Would you permit me to go to that van you kicked away so I can get some food?"

Cell's eyes opened and his head turned, his neck bending so he could look down at me. "If you wish it; far be it from me to keep you from doing so."

My eyes became wide instantly. That's it? He was just letting me journey out on my own without a second thought? No questions asked? I turned and looked in the direction of the van. It was really far away, now that I thought of it.

I looked back at the android and he was back in his meditation state. I wanted to kick his shines so badly right now it hurt me not to. But instead, I turned and started making my way towards my saving grace. About half-way there, though, I realized why he had allowed me to go without thinking it over first. The van was capsized and he knew damn well there was no chance of me getting it upright again. Damn that android! He was such a bastard!

He was a smart bastard though. He knew the situation and didn't have to think about anything, for the most part. He was aware of what he could do and he knew how negotiate to a point where he got his way no matter what. At least, this is what I figured from the six hours I had spent with him thus far.

Ten minutes into my walking my legs started to get angry on how I was treating them. My ankle was still twisted, even though I had tried to keep it as straight as possible all day. Food was more important though. A progressing limp was the last night I was concerned with at that point. The van was almost at a decent range now, too; there was no turning back.

I started to wonder how far I'd get if I tried jogging instead of the slow paced walk. Maybe even speed-walking would be alright to handle. So I tried it and quickly discovered it was yet another mistake I made that day. I was getting tired of screwing things up. When would it get better?

I reached the van nearly twenty minutes later. I might've made it much sooner if I wasn't practically killing myself to get there with the limp and all. Every step now was nothing less than pure agony. But I made it…now I could finally eat.

I wasted no time yanking the now bottom door open of the back of the van and crawling inside. I knew there was a flashlight somewhere around there, but since the roll over most of the equipment and such had fallen out of place and lay mixed up on the van's side. After relentless searching I found it and switched it on. It was like a tornado struck just this vehicle alone. With the little bit of light, I looked around for the small yellow cooler. After moving several tapes and a shattered light, and the spare camera I found it; it was actually red. Whatever.

When I opened the cover I was mildly disappointed. I didn't like the selection as much as I had hoped, but it would do. Even if some of it was stale, I didn't care. It was food and that's all that mattered, wasn't it? I reached into an overhead compartment where there was a net still spread across a shelf that held emergency supplies—including a fire blanket I knew would be useful. I spread it out and put what I figured I'd need, which would be all of the food (rolls, little cream-filled cakes, a bag of chips, cookies, and three rice cakes), the six-pack of bottled water, the entire first-aid kit, batteries for the flashlight, and my purse, which had given me a struggle since I had left it in the front seat.

As soon as I was out of the van I sat down and spread open the blanket far enough to grab what I could in the means of food. I was so hungry I didn't even think of rationing anything. I ate three of the five rolls, the bag of chips, some of the cookies and a rice cake. The combination would probably torture me within the hour, maybe a little longer if I was lucky, and that struck another point—what would I do for bodily necessities? I'll be damned if I ask the android to point me in the direction of a bush.

Before I took off back to the site of the fighting tournament I checked how badly my face was messed up from running makeup. I was surprised when I saw that my mascara only ran a little bit and I pretty much rubbed off the eye shadow. My lipstick I had ended up wiping on my sleeve, which is very un-lady-like and it disgusted me to do so, but lipstick and desert dust didn't make for a good mixture. I did what I could with my handkerchief a bit of the water from the bottled.

Then I pulled up the corners of the blanket and threw it over my shoulder once I was set to go. Unfortunately I had a feeling my back would be killing me after carting all this stuff the way I was, especially with the favoring of my ankle. To think what it would've been like if I wore the high-heals I was going to originally wear. The flashlight would be my means of feeling semi-safe during the night when it was pitch black out. I hated the dark and not knowing what was around me scared me almost as much as the android did.

About halfway back, I had to stop. My arms were hurting, not to mention my back and my whole left side, which was taking the brunt of my weight for the time being. I pointed the flashlight ahead and it barely showed how much farther I had until I reached the pearly-white arena. I wanted to scream out to Cell to tell him to come get me, but I thought twice about it. He'd probably laugh anyway.

I don't know how long I waited, or how much longer it took me to finally make it back. I didn't care. I didn't even bother glancing at my watch. But when I got back, I found something; rather, I didn't find something. Cell was gone.

I looked around with my flashlight and he was nowhere on the ring. I turned around sharply, thinking perhaps he was going to sneak up on me to scare the crap out of me, but he wasn't there. The only means of hope I had to survive the night was actually him because I figured maybe he'd save me from whatever beast would try and attack.

I was scared. No; I was terrified, more-so than I had been all day. I was all alone in the middle of the desert with very little food, one blanket and no one to protect me. How could he do this? Doesn't this count as cruelness towards the human and a violation to that agreement you made, Cell! WHERE ARE YOU?

I dumped out what I had curled up in the blanket and threw the fabric around my shoulders. It wasn't exactly a piece of fleece, but it would have to do. I curled up again and remained still and quiet. I was doomed the minute something set its eyes on me and thought I was a full course meal.

_Maybe Cell went looking for me because I was taking so long_, I wondered. Yes, that had to be it. He was looking for me and he'd be back as soon as he realized I had returned. It shouldn't be much longer. I'd sit here quietly until he returned.

I backed up against the pillar in my little corner, thinking that it could be my protection from any rear attacks. A chill ran down my spine, whether from fear or the cold I do not know. I knew the desert could get pretty chilly at night and then get warmer during the hours of sunlight, but I never had an interest in camping out here to find out for myself. Why couldn't Cell get back here so I could go to sleep and forget about how much my life sucks for at least a couple of hours?

After a while, though, my eyes started to get heavy and I was having a terrible time staying awake. It actually hurt to stay awake. I couldn't fall asleep now, though. If I did, I was dead for sure. At least I could run from an animal, maybe kick it if I was lucky enough to land one without having my foot bitten off. But it would be so much easier if Cell would just come back now….Please?

I started to think of odd sort of things. Like, why did I ever dump Kenji back in college? I could be married to him right now, in a warm house with a loving husband and no worries in the world. Oh yeah, that's right; I got mad at him because he went and did a semester abroad. Damn it.

Then there was the mild thought if Sazuke would notice his news team hadn't returned. Would he send out a search crew? Would they be able to stop Cell if they brought enough live ammunition? I was beginning to doubt anything could stop Cell, though. Or maybe that guy Goku will sneak up and rescue me when Cell's not looking. Or…maybe Cell would get bored with a human taking up space and just let me go? Yeah, as if; even if he did, how the hell would I get back to the city? Or even a town…village…hermit hut that just happened to appear somewhere nearby?

Eventually I started to slouch down against the pillar and I became vaguely aware of what was going on around me—nothing. There were a few crickets somewhere near my head; the sky was clear and full of stars. And I was still very much alone.


	6. A Cruel Gentleman

**AN:** Good morning people! Well, good morning for me since its 7:45am…I had the urge to get up early and finish this chapter, which I might add is the last one that I had written since I kinda fell out of the loop a few weeks ago. I will try very hard to keep the story rolling, but don't be surprised if it takes another week ( And thanks for the instant reviews from a few of you! Its cool to hear that some of you check the page every day for an update XD I know there's a way for you to get an email whenever I update it, but I think its for site members. If you are one, then the option should be on the window that comes up when you do a sign-in review. Just a little tid-bit ) Anyway…chapter 6!

* * *

**Chapter 6: **_A Cruel Gentleman_

The screeching of a hawk somewhere overhead stirred me awake. Coming out of my semi-peaceful slumber, the bright light from the morning made my eyes squint back shut the moment I tried to open them. I waited for a moment and then tried again. I found myself lying on my side with my arm being used as a pillow. The minute I moved I could tell it was numb and in a matter of seconds it'd fall asleep on me. Not to mention my back was so stiff from sleeping on such a hard surface that I wondered if it'd ever be the same again. Damn.

I pushed myself into a sitting position, moving my foot around to see if, by chance, it had recovered during the night. When it hadn't I swore under my breath and thought that it was sprained, not just twisted. In that case, I'd demand to be brought back to the city. Oh yeah…I couldn't. Cell had ditched me last night. He probably thought over his whole attitude and decided to go into hiding or…

I turned around as I kept thinking to myself to find the green and black android standing in his usual position, only for once he was facing me and his eyes were definitely glued at my small, insignificant form. I inhaled sharply, not sure whether I was disappointed he came back or extremely happy that I was no longer alone. I decided to blend a mixture of both. I looked at him with anger and pure hatred and all he did was stare at me seriously.

"Where the hell did you go to last night?" I asked harshly.

Cell glared. "I don't think that's any of your business."

"You don't, huh?" I asked back, putting my hands on my hips though still sitting on the floor. "Well I think it is, Mr. Android. I was scared shitless when I got back and you weren't here."

"I know," Cell said now with a smile.

"You're sick," I muttered and tossed away the blanket. It was starting to get hot and noticing that it was only 8 a.m. it was only going to get worse. Sitting there, I noticed how terribly messy my hair was. I reached up and pulled out the clip that tried to keep holding it in place; my straight, dark blue locks fell a little further than my shoulders, the ends curled slightly from the way they were positioned for so long.

"I take it you slept well?" Cell asked and I immediately sensed the sarcasm.

"Shove it," I said. "I had a horrible night's sleep and that means I'm in a bad mood."

"Forgive me for not trembling in fear," he replied dryly and turned away.

I scorned at him. That ass—who did he think he was, acting like that? I know I asked myself that question before, but maybe if I continued asking I'd eventually get an answer. In the meantime, though, I took a second to look myself over. I wasn't pleased. I was filthy. My white shirt was obviously dirty, my pants had dust marks, and my boots had been scuffed. What I wouldn't do for a good shower.

Hunger had already set in and for the moment I forgot about my appearance. I reached over for what was left of my food and it hit me hard when I realized what I had would last only for today and then I'd be back at square one either tonight or tomorrow morning; that is to say, if I made it that long.

I ate in silence and didn't give the android one glance. I didn't care what he thought of me anymore. You know what…I didn't even care if I lived anymore. As soon as I was awake enough I'd make use of my foul mood and tell him off.

When that time came though, I hesitated. He still scared me, even though I told myself the fear was gone…for the most part. I still wasn't sure what I could get away with or not. Though, I had had about enough of his arrogance. He'd pay for making me suffer! I'll have my dad sue him! Yeah…whatever, Layrial.

I got to my feet and cracked my back several times before I made the first step towards him. This was it. He'd get what was coming to him. And if I could get my body to work right I'll slap him clear across that odd face of his. I felt as if I was being pulled into two pieces; the first being my confidence and might, the second being the dread and logic. I wished the second side was more powerful.

Cell's eyes followed me from their corners and watched me walk right up to him. I think he might've been a little surprised, if not curious. "I've got a bone to pick with you," I said firmly, although my heart was beating so hard and fast I thought it'd break my ribs.

"Really?" He said with amusement.

"Really," I repeated. "I want you to know that what you're doing to me is cruel, not to mention unhealthy and there's no possible way I can survive beyond today without food and at the most a shower!"

"You have plenty of water to keep yourself alive," was his only comment.

My eyes shot daggers at him. There was nothing more that I wanted in life other than to murder him myself. "Why you unimaginable, heartless bastard…"

The next thing I knew I was laying in utter pain in the corner I had spent the night in. My mind tried hard to replace the few seconds it somehow missed—I didn't see him move but I felt the impact of the cold tile. I cried out when I moved; the sharpness in my arm was too much to bear. I attempted to move my head, but anything I did made everything worse. I couldn't do anything except yell out. Even during my horrified screams, though, I heard him approach me with that certain squeaking sound with every step he took.

Cell stood over me and looked down like I was a mere insect that he was ready to squash. "I will not be insulted by you again, do you understand?"

I said nothing. My other arm reached over and held where I knew lay shattered bones inside weak muscles and skin. I wanted to die…that's all I wanted. If any sort of heavenly being cared enough for me, they'd let me die.

I spoke out in a raspy voice. "Please," I said. "Please…just kill me."

I figured he was thinking it over and he was trying hard to keep himself from granting my wish. I didn't want him to think though…I just wanted him to do it. "I beg you…don't let me live through this."

"Why in the world do you want to die?"

I looked up into those pink eyes again. There was just something about them that made me lose my mind. "Look what you're doing to me…I can't even move now."

"You've only suffered a broken arm, maybe a rib if anything more," he said as-a-matter-of-factly. "You're lucky that's all I did to you."

I shut my eyes tightly as to hold back the tears. "Damn you," I got out after a long moment.

"Say any more and I'll break a leg too."

I said nothing until he started to walk away. "Wait…you're going to just leave me here to suffer?"

He made no response, though; instead he leapt into the air and flew off. I followed his flight path until he disappeared into the distance. I didn't dare move. My imagination started going wild with thoughts that if I did try to move my bones would trickle down to my hand and collect in my fingers.

Since my watch was on the arm that had been broken by Cell, I had no way of timing him if he was going to come back any time soon. I don't know why I would've bothered anyway. The day the tournament finally came he'd be here sweeping away my carcass. I tried to come up with some logical explanation on where I had gone wrong since I graduated college. I wasn't used to drawbacks, limitations, or letdowns. Why now? And why did fate feel the need to put me through the agony I currently suffered?

My eyes stared up at the bright blue sky. There were a few scattered clouds and I started to pretend I could make out pictures with them—a horse; a boat; a damn bug. Curse him! I couldn't stop thinking about him and his stupidity…and…and….

Damn it to hell I was losing my mind. My good arm reached up and slapped my face with the desire and deep hope that it'd knock me out of an unconscious state and I'd find myself on a bus back to Eastern City. Or…maybe my fairy godmother would come floating down and offer to grant me one wish, where I'd restart May 9th, go to the office, and somehow convince Cerise to take the job of interviewing Cell instead of me. Actually, that wouldn't be fair. I don't think anybody deserved spending their last few days to live here with him.

I hadn't noticed until my eyes began to sting from the mixture of salty water and desert dust that I had begun to cry. And I let it come. I cried as if I was a little kid and my mother had taken away my lollipop because it was nearly dinner time. And it felt good; really, really good.

Before I knew it, however, the sun had suddenly gone out and I lay in the shadows of an unknown source. I opened my eyes and let the last tear drip away. Correction: I lay in the shadow of a known source—Cell. He towered over my helpless body, his face stern and unyielding, both hands curled into fists. I wondered if he had come back to finish the job.

"Here," he said and held out his hand. I blinked several times to remove any water that remained in the corners of my eyes and stared at what lie between his forefinger and thumb. It looked like a little green bean.

"What is it?" I asked, my instincts telling me it was a form of poison that would make me spike a fever and suffer before finally suffocating and passing out for eternity.

"Its called a Senzu Bean," he replied calmly, his demeanor having turned from enraged to cool and almost compassionate. "It'll restore your health."

"Do you expect—" I started, but his eyes narrowed and that cool stance disappeared and formed irritation.

"You can either take it from me or lie there and suffer for the next seven days," he barked, although softly. "Either way, it doesn't matter to me. You're of no use to me anyway."

Any other circumstance would've created my hand to slice through the air and whack the rudeness from the offending mouth. But I didn't have the strength, or the will to do so. Instead, I decided that there was nothing to lose; I took the bean and chewed it slowly. It had no taste, which I was grateful for, and it went down easily though my throat was as dry as the desert I lay in.

My eyes popped open and my heart gave a jumpstart. I couldn't believe it—I felt incredible. Any pain I had felt anywhere in my body had disappeared—my arm, side, ankle—everywhere. Even my stomach didn't have that terrible ache for nutritious food.

I sat up quickly and backed away from him a little, surprised that he hadn't walked away by now. Maybe he was waiting for the real effect of the bean to take over and to see how long it was before I choked and croaked. "Why…?" I asked, though, hoping for a decent answer.

"My temper had taken over before I could gain self-control." His tone was honest enough for me to accept the answer. "I had no intentions of hurting you until you verbally abused me."

"You mean bruised your ego," I said with a small smile, hoping he wouldn't lash out again. I prepared myself for the strike.

"But of course," was what actually came from his mouth and I relaxed. "I don't appreciate lower life forms to talk down to me."

"Lower life forms?" I asked quickly.

"Yes," he replied. "You're a mere human with no physical strength what-so-ever. I, on the other hand, am not only stronger than anyone on this planet, if not the universe, but my mind capacity can stretch much further in the wake of knowledge than yours."

"Oh ho," I said and got to my feet. "I disagree with that statement." His haughtiness faded a bit. "I'll admit you've got the strength part beaten compared to me, but I know a hell of a lot more than you do, buster."

"I doubt it."

"I graduated from high school in the top fifty in my class and for college I had a 3.5 GPA. Top that. I bet you didn't even go to school."

"I'll give you that," he started. "I didn't go to school, however levels mean nothing to me. Had you graduated as the valedictorian from both levels of education then maybe, just maybe, you might've caught my attention. However, you had not."

I gaped at him.

"Furthermore," he continued, making me stare in utter disbelief, "my design by enabled me with not only the fighting techniques I require to be the best, but also any trace of useful knowledge that would help me succeed in any quest I take upon myself. Your schooling is worthless, for the most part, and a good grade doesn't necessarily mean you learned anything in the time you spent sitting behind a desk."

I waited for him to continue, but finally he had gone silent. And so had I. There was nothing I could say to him at this point—even if I had tried to bring up another argument he wouldn't shot me back down to the little crevice I found myself in. I had no hope of crawling out of that spot unless Cell's plug had been pulled.


	7. Shallow Heart

**Author's Message:** I just wanted to let everyone know that this chapter was meant to happen for the story to progress, however the finer details came to me after a comment "Draguna" made for a review during a previous chapter. So a special thanks to Draguna! Also, I apologize if my posting is becoming slower, but my brain is focusing on other things lately. I won't let you guys down though—you'll get an ending eventually ;) Oh, and to aquasage: I think what I meant by a gentleman is that he went out and helped her with the Senzu bean and was kind enough to do so? LOL—sometimes I don't know why I name the chapters; I'm actually surprised I'm doing that in this fic because normally I don't. Bear with me XD

* * *

**Chapter 7:** _Shallow Heart_

I don't know how long I sat in my little corner before my mind split itself out of an awful daydream. When I had glanced down at my watch to see how much longer I had until darkness fell upon this side of the Earth again I discovered that the face had been cracked and it was no longer useful. I assumed that had happened when Cell whacked me. Speaking of the bastard, I glanced over my shoulder to see where he had gone. He was staring out at something in the distance, but otherwise stood perfectly still. I had sat myself in a position that would allow my legs to hang over the edge of the ring and keep my back at him so I couldn't stare at his odd figure.

My stomach growled. I knew it had to be well into the afternoon, but I had been so out of it for what seemed like days I couldn't even tell if it was really late in the day or if what I had eaten earlier had already been used up. Needless to say I was picking my brain apart as to what I could possibly eat. I still had water left, yes, but one roll and one rice cake wasn't going to cut it. I wanted better food so badly it made me want to scream and take my chances on attempting to attack Cell.

"You've been very quiet," I heard out of nowhere. I turned around to see his head cocked in my direction.

"So?" I asked dully.

"Ah, so you are still with me," he said with a small smile creeping along his whitish lips. "I thought maybe you had lost it completely."

"Shut up," I said and turned away again.

For once I thought he had listened to me. There was a long pause where I heard nothing but a gust of wind picking up dust. I hated it when I got my hopes up like that...

"Are you mad at me?"

"Excuse me?"

"Are you mad at me?" He repeated.

I gawked at him as if he was an alien with those big eyes or something; I had trouble believing he was real. "Mad? No, I'm not mad—I'm royally pissed off. I'm starving, tired and bored out of my skull."

"Pity," he replied quickly.

"Stop asking me what my problem is if that's all you're going to say. Thanks for that bean, but why did you even bother? I'm still in pain."

"Impossible—that bean has the capability of restoring health in a person within an inch of death," he told me. "You're perfectly fine."

"Fine physically with the exception of hunger, Cell, but I'm not one to sit around and do nothing for days on end! I don't know how you do it."

"I focus my mind and meditate."

"Good for you," I said…and then added, "do you want a damn prize for that?"

I really wished I didn't have such a bad mouth—it had always found a way to get the rest of me in trouble. His face quickly became stern and I wanted to cower away and pretend he wasn't in fact real. I didn't though…I think I honestly didn't care anymore. Just think—I wouldn't be hungry if I died.

Cell walked over to me, his arms crossed tightly over his broad chest and his eyes looking at me with all the coldness of the artic. I continued to stare at him defiantly. He stopped several feet from where I sat and looked down his nose at my pitiful form.

"What?" I asked as if this were a normal occurrence.

"What do I need to do to get you to stop complaining?"

"Huh?" I tried very hard to find the rewind button in my head because I couldn't believe what I had just heard. Did he really want to know how to help me?

"I'm tired of you telling me how cruel I'm being to you, when all I've done is let you sit here in your own misery."

"That's not cruel?" I asked sarcastically, my left eyebrow rising slightly.

"It could be so much worse, my dear Layrial," he replied with such an evil grin I wanted to shiver. And the way my name rolled off his tongue made me want to jump back and run…or something. "I give up. What is it that you want?"

"Let me go," I said without thinking it over once.

Cell shook his large head. "No—that's not possible."

"Sure it is," I said as I got to my feet. I stood on the dirt ground and faced him where he still stood on the platform…damn he was tall. "All you have to do is bring me to a city and I'll be on my way. It's that simple. I won't even go to the police, how's that?"

Out of nowhere he laughed. His eyes shut, his head leaned back and his mouth let out such an amused sound that I felt my face automatically twist into a frown. "What's so funny!" I asked.

He calmed down several moments later and I half-waited for him to wipe a hidden tear from his eye. "Do you really believe a mere police force can stop me? My dear, I can destroy this planet with a snap of my fingers—a mere army has no power over me."

I knew he wasn't lying…for the most part I guess. He had already demonstrated what he could do and I wasn't ready to see it again. There was no point in arguing with him on that matter. "Well," I started, but I wasn't sure how to go on.

"Go ahead," he said slyly. "All you have to do is ask; just don't bother thinking you'll have a chance to escape me. I've actually grown fond of your company—it delights me in knowing I have the power to stand and do nothing and still keep you under wraps all at the same time."

"Jerk," I mumbled but if he heard it he didn't let on. "I need to get out of here."

"I already told you no."

"No, I mean that's what you can do—get me away from here for a bit. Look, I feel like I've been playing in dirt for days, I'm absolutely starving, and a change of clothes would make things a lot more comfortable."

Cell stood silently staring at me for a long time; too long, actually. I knew he was thinking it over, but in a way he'd be giving into something he didn't want to—he'd let me have my way and allow me to leave this place even if only for a few hours. Finally, though, his arms unlocked and fell slowly to his sides with ease.

"Very well," he said and I knew my eyes had become wider. "What is it you need the most?"

"A shower and food," I said automatically, but I was still trying to grasp the fact that he had actually said yes. All I could think of was a nice hot shower and a lot of food.

The moment he moved though, I felt myself backing away. He came closer and I stepped back again. "What are you doing?"

"How do you expect to get there? I dare say you're not capable of flying yourself."

"Yeah…but…"

"Bite your tongue and let me do the work, human."

I hesitated, but finally allowed him to get closer than he had ever been to me…and much closer than I was comfortable with. Quickly, his arm wrapped around my waist and easily picked me up as if I were a stuffed animal. And without having a chance to get used to that fact itself, I soon found myself clinging to him for dear life.

"Put me down!" I yelled out.

Cell's head jerked away from me—I must've screamed in his odd looking ear. "I hold your fate in my arm as we speak. You don't want me to let go, now do you?"

I looked down and saw that the road and anything around it was so small it all looked like toys. I don't know exactly how high up we were as he flew towards civilization, but it was enough to make me want to wet my pants…figuratively speaking of course. Maybe…

"I'm deathly afraid of heights you idiot!" I said as my arms wrapped around his neck so tightly I wondered if there was a chance he was being choked. Then again, that wouldn't be a good idea since, like he said, he held my fate in one arm.

"If you don't look down there won't be a problem," he said.

"What am I supposed to look at? You?"

I tried to pretend I hadn't noticed that small flicker of a smile. He said nothing to my question, but I knew what was running through his mind—android or not, he was still male and if he had absorbed so many people like he claimed, then there were enough male genes floating around in his head to boost his ego clear across the universe.

I decided the best thing to do was in fact to look at him…especially since he was holding me in such a way that the first thing I'd see when I put my head straight was his neck. And as awful as this may sound, I looked it over for the mere reason that there was nothing else to do while he flew me home. As I already knew, his strength could clearly be seen from his physical stature alone—his neck and shoulders showed lines where every muscle twisted into the other. But what surprised me, actually, is that I didn't notice one vein popping out like you'd see on wrestlers or weight lifters. He was buff, but it was like that's the way he was born. Then again, I guess that is the way he was born, as strange as it was to think about.

It didn't take long for him to reach the city, although I hadn't timed him exactly. I will say that the amount of air I felt on my head indicated that he was going fairly fast. Although when I happily looked around I saw that there was nothing I recognized. In fact, there was nothing at all.

Cell stepped down with that familiar squeak, but paused a second before letting his arm release me. I turned from him and stared at the deserted street. There were no cars, no buses, no pedestrians…no nothing. Glancing down a nearby alley I saw that a few stray cats lingered around a garbage bin, but that was it. That was the only sign of life I saw in the entire area.

But what frightened me most was what I noticed once I took a better look at the street and sidewalks. Scattered everywhere were clothes—shirts, pants, shoes, hats, ties, you name it and it was there. At that moment, I wanted to throw up.

"Cell…what the hell is this? 'Cause it sure isn't Eastern City!" I said, hoping it was a joke just to try to scare me—he did seem fond of doing that.

Cell smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. "You never said anything about Eastern City; you merely requested food and a shower. What better place than this where you can go anywhere you want and not have to worry about others getting in your way?"

His voice was so confident, so smooth, and so…scary. I still had that urge to throw up knowing that this was a town where every resident had been murdered…by Cell himself. "Just…where are we?"

"Nikki Town."

I gulped. I already knew, but somehow I still wanted to ask just in case it was a figment of my imagination. To know that where I was standing was where the largest murder committed by one person in history had taken place; where innocent people going about their daily lives were literally sucked out of existence and melted down, so to speak, into the creature that stood behind me.

"You need to take me somewhere else," I said turning away from the street. I couldn't bear to look at it any longer.

"If I take you anywhere it'll be back to my arena," he said. "Do what you must before I get tired of standing here waiting."

"There's no way I'm going into any building where someone died!" I shouted at him. "What do you think this is? You murdered all these people, Cell! How can you even think about letting me pick up something that…that…"

"You're losing your train of thought," he pointed out and my mouth shut immediately. "You should just go do your thing before you say something you'll regret."

"I regret you sparing my life."

Cell said nothing; actually, one glance at his face before I turned and slowly walked away showed me that I had hit a nerve. Which nerve that was, I don't know, but I know his expression wasn't all so haughty like it had been. I didn't care if I hurt his feelings—why should I? Look what I had to do! I had no money, but that didn't even matter because there was no one here to pay. So that meant anything I found and used would make me a thief…a common criminal that couldn't be caught.

I figured the first thing to do was satisfy my hunger. Luckily I didn't have to go very far since Cell had picked out a street that was covered with restaurants. He had probably done that on purpose as I thought of it.

I found myself walking absentmindedly into a little café that stood on the corner of a street. Outside were several tables and chairs complete with umbrellas and window boxes. The flowers in each box were wilting because there was no longer someone to water them. The door to the café was open and any breeze sweeping by made the bell on the top of the door ring softly giving the atmosphere an eerie feeling. I felt like I was in a ghost down from an old movie and I really wished that weren't true. Again I saw clothes laying everywhere—uniforms on the floor that must have belonged to the waitresses; sundresses and suits slumped on the edge of booths and chairs where customers had sat; half-eaten meals remained where they had been left, little flies hovering around to pick up what they could.

The thought of eating this food was enough to make me start to tear up. Out of all the people that had had to confront this monster, I was the only one to survive. And what the funny part was…I walked right up to him as if handing him my death warrant…and I can still live to tell about it.

I went into the kitchen to see what I could gather up. There were only two sets of clothing on the floor and thankfully neither was next to the refrigerator. I figured that if I didn't look at them I could get food and get out as quickly as possible with less regret. And I did just that. I grabbed bread from the counter, a mayonnaise jar and some deli meat. I didn't care what it was, I just grabbed it. There was a plastic bag on the counter and I helped myself to it, loading whatever food I could find and then hauling it out as if this was my job.

Cell remained on the street where I left him. I swear, he could look like a heavily detailed, painted statue and no one would know the difference until he actually decided to blink. I guess it didn't matter though. I wasn't ready to go anyway…no matter what I needed a shower. As long as there weren't clothes lying around the bathroom I picked, I'd be fine.

I figured the best place to go now was a hotel of some sort. I had never been to Nikki Town though, so I had no idea where to go. The only thing I could do was walk and see what I found. During my quest, however, I took a quick detour into a small clothing store and…borrowed…black pants, a pink t-shirt, and a white cardigan. It took me a little longer to dig out shoes that would fit me from the back room, but it wasn't that bad. I just had to remember never to apply to a retail store if I lived long enough to get a new job.

Then it was off to finish searching for a place to take a shower. Thankfully, though, I actually didn't have to go far. Whether Cell knew this or not, I don't know, but it turned out to be very convenient. I found a small motel with only a few cars parked outside—which to meant unoccupied rooms.

I hurried forward and made my way into the main office and pulled off several keys from the board behind the desk. Now all I had to do was find a room that didn't have people suddenly sucked out of their vacationing outfits. Of course, I never thought of the fact that all the doors were knocked off their hinges when Cell barged in so keys weren't really necessary. After finding what I was looking for, though, I hurried in to make everything quick before the android started to get anxious and wondered where I had disappeared.


	8. Those pretty, evil eyes

**Chapter 8: **_Those pretty, evil eyes…_

It felt extremely good to walk out of that motel room feeling fresh and clean. I zipped up the cardigan and inhaled a deep breath as the sun beat down on my face and slowly began to dry my hair. Being in sneakers was better too after wearing those heavy boots for two days. I decided that my clothes I had been wearing were no longer important, so I left them neatly folded in the bathroom on top of the small counter next to the sink. It didn't matter anymore. The only thing left to do now was to go back to Cell where he could return me to my place of torment. I had a bag load of food, and hopefully that would last me long enough until he decided to end my life. I was beginning to wonder how soon that day would be.

I held the bag over my shoulder like a giant purse and made my way back down the street where the android stood perfectly still. His eyes were on me, though, and I could tell as I got closer that they were locked on my face. I had no idea what he was thinking and his expressionless face wouldn't allow me to attempt to tap into his thoughts. But as I drew closer, the more I got the feeling he was mad at me; what else was new?

"Are you finally done?" he asked coldly.

"Yeah, I'm done," I replied, though I had a terrible urge to add, "you stupid bastard."

"Then lets go," he said and appeared to be waiting for me to waltz into his arms. If I knew I could I'd go by myself and not let his disgusting whitish hands touch my now clean body I'd do so; but I had no other choice than to allow him to carry me like he had earlier and bring me back.

The trip back was uneventful and quiet—good. I soon found myself settled down in my now-familiar corner, sitting against the cone-shaped pillar and watching a ladybug crawling across the tiles near my feet. Cell repositioned himself to the center of the square arena, his back to me. I don't know why he had to act the way he did, but I guess it was better this way instead of what he was like before when I had suffered my first broken arm and ribs.

As time rolled on further into the day, I began to wonder about him. I mean, what was it about him that was so interesting? Could it be his stamina or maybe his voice? Even those eyes had a way of staring a person down where no words were needed to understand what he was thinking. And then there were his actions—like him being able to stand in the exact same position for hours without even starting to sway back and forth after a while. And where exactly did he take off to the other night?

Questions swam through my head and eventually my mouth was practically ready to burst with several of them flying out without notice. I wanted to know—I had spent my life making it my business to know things about others. And yet I couldn't with this one; I was the one who was being looked into if anything. Maybe that's what it was. Maybe Cell just wants to see how a human acts?

I scolded myself for even considering that. Cell was probably itching to get his hands on me so he could strangle me, or pull me apart, or blow me into microscopic pieces. I let out a heavy sigh and put my head on top of my bent knees. I just wanted to go home.

"What are you thinking this time?"

My eyes opened and looked over the edge of my knees, my vision straining to look up at his now turned head. He looked over his shoulder at me and although I could barely see his face in the sun, I could tell he was just asking a simple question without anger washing over the words.

"I don't know," I lied and put my head back down.

I heard his feet turning and making a few steps closer to me. I didn't want to verbally battle him anymore. Unless I knew it was going to get me somewhere, I decided the best thing was refuse to speak to him.

"Something's on your mind," Cell said and I gave a small snort. "What is it?"

"None of your beeswax," I said, remembering a statement I used to use as a kid.

"A childish answer," he claimed as if he knew what I had been thinking. Maybe he did. Actually, no, I doubt it; if he could read my mind he wouldn't be bugging me right now.

"Says who?"

"Says I," he replied simply. "You're acting strangely."

"I'm acting like I'm bored and tired."

Cell was quiet for a moment. I actually moved my head to see if he was still there and to my surprise he was—closer than I had thought. He was maybe two arms' lengths away from me, which was a bit surprising because I didn't remember his feet squeaking that much.

"What are _you_ thinking?" I asked without realizing I had. Sometimes I wish I could sew my mouth shut.

For once Cell smiled, his eyes closing and his head bending forward. "I'm thinking of what it would be like to be as weak as a human such as you."

Instantly I felt a burning rage fire up inside me. How dare he say such a thing! I mean, what kind of sick pleasure does he get out of making fun of people? "What the hell is your problem?"

"I beg your pardon?" he replied quickly, his eyes snapping open and narrowing quickly to stare down at me.

"I asked what the hell your problem was," I repeated. "Why do you have the need to say stuff like that? You're the one who's causing all the problems around here!"

I could see it in his eyes…I had pushed the wrong buttons again and his tightly clenched fists told me he was doing everything in his inhuman power not to beat me into the ground. I couldn't let him see my fear; I stood up and backed up against the pillar, my arms behind me before he could grab them and throw me away.

Cell didn't make any attacks though. Instead his fists let up and his eyes closed to let his mouth curl into a smile. "My dear girl, you think you're really brave, don't you?"

"Fuck you." There. I said it. I finally let that disgusting, terrible, horrible word roll off my tongue and splash against his perfect face. And it splattered on him hard. His cockiness disappeared quicker than it had the first time during this little squabble.

Cell's perfectly shaped white teeth appeared during a silent growl. I barely saw his hand rise up and grab my neck, his long fingers curling around my throat and pushing his palm up against my windpipe. This was it—he was going to strangle me. I'd have to slowly wither away while staring at those magenta eyes I actually…liked. They were pretty.

My brain shouted at me to wake up. The quick loss of air was making my mind play tricks on me and start thinking things that I didn't think where true. I opened my eyes and stared at him since it was the only thing I could get my body to do. I don't know what happened to the rest of me…actually, yes I do; it was hanging in the air as he raised his arm to be parallel with the ground. I think I felt my hands come up and grab his wrists…and I could barely feel a tear trickle down my cheek.

"You claim I'm vulgar and rude, however you come out with dirtier statements," he protested calmly. "Do you think your words affect me? Do you honestly think I feel anything by what you say to me?"

I looked at him and listened carefully, since basically it was all there was left for me to do as I felt my body slowing down and giving up. "….y-yes…" Did I say that?

I felt my feet touch the ground again and the clasp on my throat loosened, although it hadn't backed away. "What?"

I looked up at him fearfully, yet somehow I understood what was happening. I found that nerve again. That same nerve I had hit back in Nikki Town. It was a bit of a variation with the approach, but I still struck that chord as hard as the first time; I confused him.

"Answer me!"

His loud tone rang in my ears, but I didn't back away. I think it was mainly because I was so damn scared my feet couldn't remember how to run away. Though they had no choice but to move as Cell pressed forward and backed me against the pillar, his hand still closed around my throat minus the choking part.

"I demand you answer me."

"Why?"

His eyes grew wide for a mere second and then he looked at me so coldly I wondered if it was possible for him to freeze me in the heat of the afternoon. "Because I said so, that's why!"

I felt a small wave of courage gathering inside of me. He was confused and it angered him. This was so cool! No. No it wasn't. Cell being mad meant pain for me. I didn't need that anymore.

"I swear, Layrial, you better give me an answer or I'll end it right here."

"Then end it." His jaw became tense as he clenched his teeth while hearing my words. "What's stopping you?"

I felt the pressure on my throat grow a bit, but he didn't go as far as he had before. He was hesitating—and it was making his mood very bad. "My patience is growing thin, girl."

"You're mad at me because you don't know what the hell to do, is that it? I tell you to go fuck off and you immediately become angry because someone was bold enough to say it to your face."

"Is that what you think?"

"No, Cell, that's what I know."

BAM!

I immediately anticipated him to hit me, kick me or whatever. I was wrong. He released me, but didn't step back. He stood up as tall as his body would allow, his head bent only enough so his eyes could look down at me. But I wasn't done. I was determined to finish this off and let him have it as hard as it could possibly get.

"And to answer your previous question, yeah, I think you are bothered by me telling you stuff like that," I said defiantly and almost proudly. Go me. "You're ego is so damn big it hurts when someone touches it with a pinprick. You think you're so damn tough—whether physically or mentally—but when someone challenges that and almost catches you off guard, you can't handle it!"

Cell stood silently and listened, but I knew his blood was beyond boiling point. Like I said, those eyes said it all. "Furthermore," I continued, "what hurts most is that it's all coming from a weak, stupid human _girl_ as you pointed out to me so many times."

His fists were clenched again. I was actually surprised to realize I was still alive and pain-free. Yet I was shaking. Hell, I could barely stand up. I looked up at him proudly, though, and refused to let my own ego get blown down this time.

"Are you finished?"

I blinked a few times. His words were calm. Did he expect me to go off on him like that?

"I'll take your silence as a yes," he stated. "Now, let me set you straight. You mean nothing to me. What you say only angers me because you've yet to learn your place. I am a perfect being and nothing you can possibly come up with can change that."

"Hold on," I said and I know I caught him again, though he did stop his speech. "You're not perfect."

"What?"

"You heard me. You heard me better than I heard myself. And right now you're trying very hard to figure out those three words: You're, not, perfect."

"And what makes you possibly believe—"

"Stop," I said before he could finish. "You're starting to be really predictable. You're not perfect because of that. You're not perfect because you can't understand the human mind, such as why I am the way I am around you. And you're especially not perfect because, regardless of what you had told me earlier about yourself, you're not complete. You lack all emotion other than anger."

He was silent for a long time. And he was standing like stone. I had finally found enough strength inside of my pitiful existence to shut up the android who wanted to destroy the world. And it felt damn good.

* * *

**Author's Moment for Words:** Yes, I know what you're thinking—how could I possibly be so evil and leave you with such a huge cliffhanger? I'll admit that what you've just read has been written and sitting around for several days, but with the thoughts of adding more to it. However, after rereading what I wrote, I felt this was a good place to stop. And it would've been posted earlier, but it seems this site is having technical difficulties. That hurts, now doesn't it? ;) 


	9. The Evil Inside

**Author's Brief Comment:** Wow…how lucky are you guys? You get 3 chapters in one day ;) Enjoy them. Honestly, I have no idea when I'll get to start up #11, but I will when I get the chance…next week? This one's long, but 10 is a little shorter—so I guess it's evened out that way. I think you'll like both of them…yeah…you will ;)

* * *

**Chapter 9:** _The Devil Inside_

It seemed like days that I stood there and kept my eyes locked on his unfaltering face. He made no comment, no expression, and no movement for a long time. I had no idea what he was thinking, which gave me a reason to have no idea what to think for myself. Did I just seal my death wish? Or was he just going to walk away and pretend nothing happened? I highly doubted the latter would be true, but I was almost willing to bet the first wasn't true either. The only thing I could do, though, was stand there and wait for some sort of reaction.

But when that reaction was delayed beyond my point of patience, I decided to break the silence. "What, cat got your tongue?" I said stupidly. For that, I deserved anything he threw at me.

He continued his self-made vow of silence and stared at me, but I realized his eyes became more willing to stare me down until I finally started to melt—in the literal sense.

"Well, I'm not going to stand around until you decide to break out of your coma," I said and attempted to walk around him.

I knew this would work—his hand darted out and grabbed my upper arm, pulling me back into my corner between him and the pillar. He looked at me with a face that said he was truly unsure on how to react to what I had just done to him. I don't think he had ever been verbally abused like that, and maybe it had frightened him. Then it occurred to me—was it possible for Cell to feel fear?

"I want you to explain to me why you believe I have no emotion."

I blinked. Then I blinked again and again until I realized he was waiting patiently for my answer. His voice was still calm and smooth, like that of an early 20th century gentleman. I was stunned that he was able to hold onto such willpower—by now I would've been flipping out if I were in his shoes.

"What the hell for?" I asked rudely.

"I want an explanation for your accusations," he replied simply. "You say I have no emotion other than anger. Why say such a thing?"

"Because it's true," I returned. "You don't have any emotion. The only thing on your mind is yourself. Everyone else around you either doesn't exist or you care nothing for them other than a good time if you take their lives."

"You are mistaken."

"No I'm not," I defended quickly. I could feel that part of me that wanted to lash out and attack him start up. "Don't you start that 'I'm so perfect' thing again. If that's the only thing you can go on about, then what I've just said is true—you care for nothing but yourself."

"And what if I said I cared for you?"

I almost choked on his words. What did he just say?

I shook my head quickly and my hand came around from behind my back, wanting so very badly to slap his face. "You don't care about me."

"What makes you think that?"

"No, what makes _you think_ that Cell?"

"I'm growing tired of you answering my questions with ones of your own, but very well. I've allowed you to live, haven't I? My amusement with you has grown to the point I want to get as much out of you as I possibly can. I care to see what makes such an average woman tick."

"That's a bunch of bullshit," I said with a small laugh. "It doesn't even make any sense! That's not how you should care for someone."

"I brought you to Nikki Town and allowed you to eat and bathe—that's care enough for me."

"Then obviously you were never 'programmed' with the emotions you claim you have. Caring for someone means you love them and want to protect them. It means that you'll do anything for them no matter what the consequences." Wow…did I just say all of that?

"This love thing you speak of is nonsense. It's what makes people weak and vulnerable, which makes me all that more powerful."

"Which means you have no emotion," I finished softly. This time he let me walk away. He had nothing more to say and neither did I.

I had curled up somewhere on the opposite side I normally sat and took a brief nap. It's funny on how tired you can get when you don't do anything for days on end. Unfortunately, though, I had been woken by something other than my body telling me I was done sleeping. In fact, my body had jerked awake to hear the sound of not one, two, three, or four helicopters and planes, but probably a dozen or more. My eyes opened up immediately when I saw several of them fly over, one with two men (one of which appeared to be holding a camera) hanging out the side door.

I sat up quickly and realized what was going on. Someone had decided to trigger an army to invade Cell. How stupid could people get? They had no chance! It made me get to my feet and shout up at them to get away. I stopped within seconds, though, when I heard a chuckle.

Cell stood in the center of the ring again, his arms crossed and his head cocked up towards the helicopters. He had a big smile on his face and every once and a while he let out an evil giggle. "Maybe they're here to rescue you," he said, his head nodding towards me.

"Shut up," I said and looked around. Hummers, Jeeps, tanks, foot soldiers, you name it, they were closing in all around. My heart's pace quickened and I became nervous. Armed forces of this magnitude had a good chance of blowing up not only Cell, but me as well. I'd be pissed off to no end if they killed me instead of saving me.

"Look, all these men still playing with toys," I heard Cell say. He smiled and turned towards me. "Time to move, darling."

"Darling?" I said, temporarily forgetting that hundreds of forms of weaponry were aimed in my direction.

Cell didn't reply; at least, not in the way I wanted. He scooped me up in his arms, holding both my back and legs, and flew off. I had no choice but to lean up against him in fear that I'd fall out of his cradled embrace. At first I thought he was running away, but then I realized he wasn't when we landed on a rock formation a few miles away.

"What, are you scared they might get you?" I asked.

"Please," he said with a wave of his hand. "I just don't want those idiots to ruin my ring."

I looked out at the armed forces turning and making their way to our new location. "Cell, they're going to try to kill us!"

"I'm not worried," he replied.

"May you're not, but I am! I can't survive an attack!" I started to panic, but again, I was powerless to do anything about my current situation. I was getting very tired of feeling that way.

The tanks, helicopters, jets, and everything else drew closer, missile launchers still aimed at us. I started to shake. There was no way—

I heard a few rockets launch. I saw them heading straight for me. I yelled out wildly and curled my body into a huddled ball on the ground. I'd rather be choked to death than feel my body explode with intense heat.

But I didn't feel anything. In fact, I barely heard the explosions all around me. I looked up a tiny bit, peaking between my arms that covered my face. Then my head popped up to get a better view. Cell stood perfectly still in front of me…as if protecting me? All around us was a strange greenish glow and beyond that was a thick cloud of dust engulfing the surrounding area. He was protecting both of us. I have no idea how he was doing it, but whatever the military men threw up couldn't make a dent at the force field-thing Cell held so easily.

Maybe he was perfect…

No. He had no emotion…none. He didn't care about anything but himself. Sure. That's why he was protecting me from all harm. No…that was why he was keeping me from being saved by one of those men down there.

I argued with myself for the entire time Cell held the barrier while we were being attacked. Then finally, the greenish glow disappeared very slowly until the brown dust became more visible until that too, faded away.

I became extremely nervous again, though, when I realized the rock we had been on was no longer there. I looked down to see hundreds of feet separating me from the ground and I instantly became terrified, even though I was just hovering there without knowing why or how.

"I suggest you sit still for a moment," he said. I looked up and figured out that if he was able to create that barrier or whatever to protect us from harm, then he was able to create some sort of invisible floor to keep me from falling to my doom?

During that moment I spent to come up with a reasonable explanation as to how I was suddenly able to float, Cell had thrown back his arm over his shoulder, his hand spread out as wide as it could go. My heart skipped a beat when I saw that look of pure evil wash over his entire face, his eyes glittering with anticipation and excitement.

"What are you—" I started, but my words were cut off the second his arm came swooping down making a tidal wave of light dive all around us. I held my hands over my ears as I heard shouting and explosions below where I sat in midair. Whatever had just happened was terrible enough that I couldn't get myself to open my eyes. I was much too afraid of what I'd see if I did so.

My ears and eyes were forced open, though, when Cell grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. The way he had done so made me rock towards him and lose my balance enough where I had to grab on to his waist for support. Before backing away from him, however, I took a chance to look down. To my ultimate horror, I saw nothing. At least nothing I could make out except a bunch of debris littering the desert floor. Pieces of metal, rubber, and such lay scattered, but no signs of human bodies could be pulled out from the rubble. He had destroyed them; every single one of them. An entire army had been wiped clean by one man…creature…machine.

While I stood horrified, Cell had lowered us back to the ground. I was forced to stand where thousands of men had just been murdered in one sweeping blow. Cell looked around with a satisfied grin.

"How could you…" I said softly.

"How could I what? Kill all those men? Easily," he replied smugly. "No weapon in the human world is enough to even inflict a paper cut on me. Pathetic fools."

"You just killed all of them right before my eyes," I said stunned.

"So I did," he said with a smile. "Aren't you proud that you witnessed my power and didn't have to be a part of the devastation? Oh, and wouldn't it count as a form of protection since I didn't let them harm you?"

"Is that what this is all about? Protecting me?" I looked up at him, my eyes blinded by a pool of tears that quickly started draining with the slightest jerk of my head. "You're the pathetic fool—they had no power over you! Yet you still killed them unmercifully."

"If I hadn't they would've tried attacking to get to you," he replied.

"And I wish they had! At least I would've known that I might've had a chance to get away from you!" It was then my feet finally found the power to move and get away from him. I walked as quickly as I could back to the ring, but about halfway there I decided to forget everything. I didn't care what happened—I ran. I turned to my right and just ran as fast as I possibly could with no care that I would be killed, whether by nature or Cell. The only thing I wanted to do was get as far away from that place and Cell as I could.

It didn't take long for a sharp burning sensation to shoot down my calves and thighs. I also started to feel a stitch in my side that was threatening to clog my breathing in some terrible way. Tears still trailed down my cheeks and that made everything worse since crying and running weren't a good combination on the body. Parts of me were yelling to stop and just give up and pray to anyone who would listen to just let me die. The other parts persuaded me to continue to get as far as I could before he stopped me himself.

Through my blinded vision, though, I saw him appear out of thin air. He stood there with his arms hanging at his sides, but I wasn't about to find out what would happen if I continued running until we met. I skidded to the right and ran in the other direction. I'd make him work before he had a chance to kill me. And sure enough, he appeared again in my path. I skidded to the left this time, tripping myself, falling over halfway, but pushing myself up quickly to continue running.

My tumble was my downfall, though. When I had jumped back to my feet to go on he was there to meet me. His hands locked over my shoulders and held me still. I yelled whatever came out of my mouth—what it was, I really don't know—and my hands came up in balled fists to start pounding on his hard chest. I cried like a little kid did when they were having a fit. My knuckles started to ache from clashing together as I hit him over and over again.

"Let me go!" I cried. "Just let me go!"

He must've been waiting to act until I grew tired. That didn't take long. My yelling subsided and my fists stopped and loosened. I sunk down to my knees and sat there, my eyes barely focusing on his black shins. I had exhausted myself to the point I could barely breathe. The tears still managed to escape my eyes, though, and that's the only way I knew I wasn't completely numb—I was still able to feel them running down to my chin and then fall.

I became sleepy very quickly. I felt my whole body just relax and want to lay back and jump into a peaceful sleep. I was so tired…and I had no cares in the world. I felt something wrap around me, but I didn't know what. I felt my face leaning up against something warm and smooth, but I didn't open my eyes to see. Somewhere in the far distance I heard squeaking every second or two, yet it didn't matter what was making that sound. I just wanted to sleep and forget the world existed.


	10. Shadowed Spirit

**Chapter 10:** _Shadowed Spirit_

The wonderful feeling of water quenching my thirst and restoring life to my extremely dry mouth is what brought me back to the real world. I felt very relaxed and comfortable, but I hadn't the energy to move even a finger. I was somewhat aware that someone was getting me to drink water because I know I wasn't doing it myself. I also knew that someone's arm held me up, their hand resting on my shoulder.

I opened my eyes slowly, a small smile on my face to prepare myself to see my rescuer. I figured I'd see prince charming smiling with pearly whites, wearing a sexy uniform of some kind, his polished car or truck behind him ready to take me home.

How I wish that day dream was real, because when my eyes focused and I saw pink eyes watching me, whatever water had just entered my mouth wound up flying back out and landing on my lap. The hand holding the bottle of water jumped away, though the other hand still kept me upright. I tried to back away, but the most I did was throw my arm out to keep me from falling over.

I stared at Cell with horror and mistrust. And I knew he knew exactly what I was thinking by the way he finally set the bottle down and backed away. He didn't look ashamed at what he had done, but he no longer looked as proud as I remember. His eyes followed me as I backed away and hugged my legs tightly. I turned my head away from him and rested my cheek on my knee.

"A bit of thanks would be appreciated," Cell said at last. I didn't answer him. This time I wouldn't give in and start to argue, even if it meant I could tell him off and make him go away. "Don't start any of your games with me, Layrial."

Again, I didn't answer. I heard him moving, towards me I believe, but I kept my eyes focused on the floor. I gasped lightly when his leg pushed me, causing my body to uncurl. My eyes shifted in his general direction, but I still refused to look at his face.

"Why will you not speak or look at me?" He asked and I could easily detect the annoyance in his voice. "Are you trying to provoke me?"

Maybe that's exactly what I was doing, but I assured myself it was unintentional. Cell's hot temper would think of it as provoking, but I was honestly doing it because I was so angry at him. I was even mad at myself for allowing this to go on so far, for letting me get tangled in his web of cruelty. The only answer I gave him was repositioning myself into my upright fetal pose.

"Don't make me use force, Layrial," he said. "I don't want to hurt you…"

My ears perked up at his last statement, which had trailed off as if he hadn't intended on saying it. I glanced at his yellow feet that stood beside me, wondering if that was him trying to be a jerk and get me to speak or if that was something he honestly meant, but wouldn't admit if I asked him to repeat it.

"You already have," was what came out of my mouth and I closed my eyes in silent resentment.

"I know I have," he said. "But you're giving me a reason to continue."

"No I'm not," I replied very softly. "You're allowing yourself to act like that."

"Stand up."

I heard him and chose not to ask him, "What?" since it would be pointless to do so. I returned to my silence and looked away from him again. I would not give him the pleasure of thinking for a moment he had any control over me.

"I said stand up," he repeated a bit more firmly.

"No."

He kicked me aside again, this time being a little more forceful than the first, and I lay on my side with my eyes tightly shut. "Do not tell me no," he said and used his foot to turn me onto my back. I allowed myself to look up at his face, allowing my features to look uncaring and innocent. He placed his foot on my chest and pressed down slightly, but not nearly enough to cause any pain. "I could crush you right now."

"Then do it and get it over with," I said without hesitation.

"Why are you so eager to die? You were afraid of the thought only a few days ago."

"Because I hate all of this," I replied calmly, just like he usually acted.

"All of what?" He asked as if he didn't understand. Perhaps he really didn't.

"This—" I looked around and pointed. "I hate this desert, this arena, and I especially hate you."

For a moment I thought nothing would get him to give up; but soon his foot left me and he turned away from me, taking a few steps towards the side. I must've struck that self-image of his again. I smiled at the thought that I had the ability to do that so easily while I sat up and looked at his backside. The stupid bug…

"What, did I hurt your feelings?" I asked sarcastically. It felt so damn good to taunt him like this.

"My intentions were never to have you hate me," he said. "Fear me, perhaps, but never hate." I think he would've just pretended I wasn't there if I hadn't opened my big mouth again.

"Excuse me?" He didn't answer. I got to my feet. "Are you saying you feel bad because I said I hated you? Well guess what? Its one-hundred percent true! You're a complete jerk! And you deserve whatever bad thing hits you!"

"Shut your mouth," he spat glancing over his shoulder. "I think I've been pretty fair to you."

"You call death threats fair? Wow..." I laughed. "You really are pitiful."

I noticed his mouth give a small sign of a flinch at what I had just delivered, but he said nothing to it. Instead he turned slightly around so he didn't have to strain his vision to look at me. "Is there any way I could persuade you otherwise?"

"What, not to hate you? Not a chance, buddy," I replied. I crossed my arms over my chest and bent my leg so I could tap my foot every few seconds.

"There's nothing?" He said with a small smile and turned completely around to begin walking back towards me.

I stepped back, wondering what the hell was going through that head of his this time. "No," I assured him. "There's nothing—not even giving me freedom would change my mind." I thought I'd throw that last part in just in case he got an idea to try it to get me to say I didn't hate him. Sadly, I received no such results.

Instead I found myself backing up until my heel felt the edge of the ring. It was either getting off or stopping…I wish I had gotten off. He was getting uncomfortably closer, and I could see it in his eyes and smile that he wasn't thinking about attacking me with the idea of inflicting pain. No…this was much worse. He almost looked…seductive, as much as I hated to admit it.

My mind raced quickly to think of a way to get him angry, just because that's the way I was used to handling him—I could go with the anger; but this side of him truly frightened me. "Where did you go the other night?"

"Pardon?"

"Where did you take off to when you left me here alone all bloody night?" I restated.

His smile grew wider. "I went into space to train for a while."

It wasn't the answer I had expected, but it would have to do. "Well then why don't you go back into space and throw yourself into the sun."

"You're insults won't work," he said deeply. "Especially when I know you don't mean them."

"Screw you," I said. "I mean everything I say to you."

"Then I want you to tell me exactly what went through your head when this moment is over," he said and the distance between us was gone. He was only centimeters away and I wanted to disappear.

I decided to take the action of stepping off the ring instead of stopping. I wish I had done that sooner, because just as I started to move his arm wrapped around my waist and held me so I couldn't escape. He pulled my body to his and immediately I stopped breathing. Doing so made me quite aware of the rapid pace my heart was beating, which made me even more uncomfortable.

"What are you thinking right now?" He asked softly as his other hand came up to rest on the side of my head.

"That you're a crazy…"

And it was then I felt his mouth touch mine. My brain shut down and all thoughts were put on hold. My eyes remained opened, as did his, and I watched him gaze at me. I was dead scared and I wished for nothing more than to wake up from this horrible nightmare.

_Please…make him stop…_I prayed silently. But instead of that being answered, his warm lips pressed against mine a bit more and his hand held the back of my neck. I was trapped in the embrace of the enemy…the biggest murderer of all time…an android of all things.

Thank the Heavenly Beings, though, that it finally came to an end. I was beginning to wonder if it'd ever stop. He released me and took a single step back. My head straightened and I stared straight into his strong torso.

"Well, Layrial, what are you thinking now?"

* * *

**From Me Again: **Yes…evil is my middle name. And I love to prove it. This is a nasty cliffhanger for you guys and I do apologize. Now you can spend the next week wondering about Layrial's thoughts ;) 


	11. Impossibilities

**A word from your author: **First of all, I'd like to apologize to you wonderful and patient people for waiting so long for this chapter. I know I left you off with a terrible cliffhanger, but at the time I had no intentions on prolonging the posting of this chapter. Unfortunately, the end of the week it was promised to you, I had received news on the sudden death of a dear friend's brother, which came as a great shock. Needless to say I was one of many people who was depressed and couldn't get him off my mind—which destroyed my brain with writer's cramp when I tried several times to finish what I had started here. On a better note, though, the freedom obtained today for the Thanksgiving recess has brightened up my day and I finally finished. It is a bit short, and some of it may not be very clear (I'm too lazy to rewrite the whole thing) but keep in mind what circumstances it was written under.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 11:** _Impossibilities_

His question swam through my head for far too long. The way he said it, the way he looked at me when he said it was enough to make my knees weak. "Well, Layrial, what are you thinking now?" How the hell was I supposed to know? It was only my own mind! Damn it to hell, this is turning into a nightmare. You know what? I hated it! There—HATED IT, you hear me?

No, of course he hadn't. He probably saw right through me and was answering his own question for himself. His eyes bore into my skull, picking through whatever information he could find and started feeding off it to come up with another way to torture me, to make me feel like I was no bigger than an ant.

But what did I really think? It wasn't…that bad, was it? Yes it was—of course it was! This was Cell, not some random guy I met on the street. First of all, he's not even human; second, he's a bloody terrorist! For someone who was basically a machine, he knew for the most part what he was doing. It wasn't the best, that's for sure, but there was still something there that caught me.

Oh no….

I had begun to realize after much contemplation that Cell achieved his goal. He did exactly what he wanted to do to me—he made me develop a small feeling for him, even if it was practically insignificant. The fact of the matter was I almost considered ignoring my conscience and allowing my ignorant and very stupid side to take over. I allowed my heart to race by his touch. I allowed myself to start closing my eyes and forget who he was.

"I'm waiting for your answer," I heard him say, although my vision couldn't…wouldn't focus on his face.

"Who said there is one?" I said without even realizing I had said it until it was too late.

I caught the smile forming on his face from the corner of my eyes. I hate my big mouth. I really did.

"Then I'm assuming, since you're denying it, that you do have some sort of thought for me other than an android who killed your friends."

_Why_ did he have to say it like _that_? Especially those last few words….And at that point I realized that no, I didn't have any feelings for him. What I felt was nothing less than the intensity of the moment and that I could never forgive him for what he's done to me and others.

I stepped away from him, my feet pressing into the dirt ground next to the ringside. "No Cell, you're wrong." His smile barely faded. "You have nothing over me. And you never will. If you think a display of that type of physical communication is enough to persuade me to think otherwise of you, then you need to go do some research on the human mind."

I left it at that, and I'm glad to say I was proud of how it came out. It said basically what I wanted to and it was done calmly. I turned around and took a few more steps away from him before I stopped and held my arms around myself as if I was cold and had nothing to keep me warm. I closed my eyes and looked towards the ground and before I knew it, a small tear had escaped my right eye. I'm not sure why I started to cry again, but I did. It was a slow sob, but I could feel the salty liquid leaking from my surrendered eyelids.

Then, out of nowhere, strong hands landed on my shoulders. I jumped, but didn't dare pull away, my body afraid that those hands would break me in half. I looked up and over my shoulder; I knew who it was, but I couldn't figure out just why he was acting like this after I told him it was no good. Didn't he believe me?

"Layrial, perhaps you should know that you've caught my interest beyond the fact that you're a human," he said in a naturally composed manner. "And I think I've caught yours; you just haven't discovered it yet."

"Stop it," I scolded and pulled away from his grip. I aimed to swat his arm as I did this, but I missed by a mile. "Don't talk to me—don't even look at me! I don't want to have anything to do with you, you…you inhuman freak!"

I might've picked that as a chance to run, but I remained where I was and only turned my back on him. I wanted him to know that it wasn't fear of him. No, I know it wasn't fear; it was just disappointment that someone like him existed. I wanted him to have to stare at my back, knowing that I wasn't flying into his arms like he thought I might if he provided some sort of affectionate evidence.

"Very well," is the reply that came; it surprised me.

I waited for more to come, but there was nothing. I finally gave in and turned to see where he was and again surprise came to me to see that he was now standing back in the ring with his back to me. Was this another one of his antics?

I couldn't tell—I was never good at reading people for who they really were. My grandmother was; she could pick someone out easily. If you were a complete jerk, but put on a good show, she'd know it in a heartbeat. Don't ask me how 'cause if I knew I'd use the same technique. In a way, though, I had this terrible, aching feeling that Cell might've meant what he said…and did. Maybe not, but how can I actually know?

Wait…why would I want to know?

_Because Layrial…you're lying when you say you haven't felt the slightest thing when he talks to you as if you were equal…or the way he smiles._

I hated my inner thoughts…especially when I knew they were pretty much right. So that was that. I made up my mind. I decided to give him a second…third…maybe we're on the fourth chance.

I approached Cell slowly, wondering if he'd tell me to go away since I insulted him for the millionth time that day. When I made it to the arena and he hadn't budged, I figured I was clear to step up.

Yeah…whatever…

"I suggest you keep your distance, Layrial."

"Why?" I asked solemnly.

He still hadn't moved. I wonder in what way his face was twisted in disgust at the thought of me. "I think you've done enough damage for one day."

I was flabbergasted. "How the hell have I done damage? I think you're the one who's tried to kill me several times!"

"I have never attempted to kill you."

"Oh no? What do you call that time when that other guy showed up? Or when you tried choking me a second time? Or when you had your foot prepared to crush my chest?"

He said nothing for the longest time. "That was a bad statement on my part."

"You're damn right."

"But you've found several opportunities to bring down the level of my self-esteem, haven't you?"

I threw up my arms and sat on the edge of the ring. I was getting tired of the endless, meaningless verbal disputes we had. It was starting to eat away my nerves and patience.

"Furthermore—"

"Give it up already! I'm sorry, okay? SORRY!"

There was a long moment of silence in which I thought I had thrown myself into the depths of Hell where no one would ever want to talk to me again. I kept my eyes on the dirt ground and listened for any signs of movement behind me. I heard nothing. Well, I can't say nothing…my heart was beating so loudly I thought that maybe he'd come over and kick me to make it stop.

When my ears perked up at the sound of a single squeak I turned to see if he was making his way over to me. When instead I noticed him looking towards the sky with his wings flexed out, I quickly stood up on the ground. Before I could finish standing straight he was in the air.

"Where are you going?" I shouted up to him.

At first he made no answer; he hovered over the arena for a long moment before glancing back down at me with an expression that spelt out confusion and anger. "I have other things to tend to. Leave if you will—it doesn't matter to me."

I stared at his retreating form as it became smaller and smaller in the distance until in a matter of seconds he was out of my range of sight. I stood still for a long while, my neck craned and eyes wondering over the sky for any signs of him returning. Finally, though, my neck started to hurt and I was forced to sit back down. He had told me to leave…I had my freedom right in front of me. And yet…I didn't know what I wanted to do. There was no point in me staying; in fact, I'd be foolish to do so. I could start walking right now and hopefully someone in a helicopter or car or whatever would see me and pick me up. I'd be home free. Free…from it all.

* * *

Dedicated to the loving memory of Johnny 


	12. The Last Chance

**AN: **I feel as if I'm on a roll. I do thank those of you that reviewed the previous chapter for your kind comments that dealt with life outside of this story. It's greatly appreciated. However, after such said things and a terrible chapter (although you guys claim no) on my part, I have rewarded you with not only a longer and better written chapter, but also a chapter posted within 24 hours of the last. Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 12: **_The Last Chance_

The sun rose slowly over the horizon, spreading its magical light over the land and awakening the slumbering creatures that inhabited this side of the Earth. I was one such creature, curled up under a single blanket and not ready to approach the new day. I was tired and hungry, but I had no urge to do anything except sit there and struggle to open my eyes. Once I overcame the task I looked around to see that I was still very much alone.

I had located myself to my usual corner of Cell's marshal arts arena, my back leaning against the cone-shaped pillar made by the android himself. The blanket brought little warmth to me during the night, but I didn't care. In a way I felt numb merely from the simple thought that I could be sitting in my nice, warm apartment instead of a cold floor. Instead, I chose to sit and stay instead of taking the opportunity presented. And the longer I sat there, awake and aware of what I had chosen to do, I wondered why. Cell was an android built to destroy; whether or not he was made of living cells or metal was irrelevant. To think that such a creature could conquer the original programming, or what I'm considering as such, is totally asinine. I must be insane. I don't recommend staying outside in a desert by yourself for days at a time. It's not healthy.

After a while, I decided to gather up the ambition to eat something. I still had enough food to last me a few more days, since I had grabbed practically everything in sight from the restaurant in Nikki Town. As I ate, though, I wondered where the android had disappeared to once again. He had said that he had gone to train in space the last time he did this—is that where he was now? Flying past the stars beyond the planet's atmosphere?

It was strange to think of someone being capable of doing such a thing. I wondered for a brief moment if that other character with the blonde hair could do the same thing, although maybe not because he looked completely human to me. Whether he could or couldn't, it was something I couldn't do. I hadn't the capability of going to find Cell. Even if I could I don't know if I would—not after the way he's treated me.

_Then why are you still here and not making your way back to civilization?_ My inner thoughts questioned. The answer was simple: I don't know. Honestly, it wasn't something I completely understood. Was it possible to fall for someone…or something in only a few days? Was it possible to even do so with a being that was dead-set on destroying the world, who threatened your life, and who wasn't even human? Maybe…

Before I knew it, Cell had returned. He landed on the direct opposite corner I sat, one foot touching down, then the other. His hands were balled up into fists, but I couldn't tell how tightly they were clenched from the distance between us. His eyes averted away from mine the moment I attempted to make eye contact. He looked away with a scowl on his face and proceeded to stand there without giving me the time of day. I looked down at the open candy wrappers I had left near my feet—an unhealthy breakfast for an unhealthy situation. Why didn't I leave; heavens above, why?

"Please say something…" My words were very soft and muffled from the lack of decent jaw movement. I was afraid of what he might say.

"I have nothing to say to you," was his answer. But after a short moment he added, "I'm actually surprised you're still here. I figured you'd be well on your way so you can get away from this inhuman-freak, as you so called."

I felt an icy pain shoot through my chest. I had said that. And I had been terrible about it too. At that moment I realized that Cell was more human that I thought—he had feelings. He might not show it the way a regular human would, but I could tell from his expression and the coldness in his voice that his attempts at catching my interest were at least partially for real. Now I had to figure out how to get myself out of the nice hole I had dug for myself. I might add that I wasn't looking forward to it.

"Look, I'm sorry. I really am. I mean…this whole thing—the past few days and stuff—it's really taken its toll on me. It's not exactly what I thought I'd be going through."

I waited for an answer, but he gave none. Instead his eyes were locked on my weak, pathetic, innocent form as it stood up and cautiously made its way to where he stood in the shadows of his corner's pillar. "Where did you go?" I asked, hoping to spark a nice little conversation.

At first I thought his eyes were going to shoot out laser beams at me. Instead, his mouth curled into a frown and he crossed his arms tightly over his broad, black chest. "I had a bit of frustration that needed to be let out. I went looking for some innocent victims to prey on."

My eyes grew wider, this I knew, and I paused in my actions of walking towards him. "You didn't…"

"Do you want a body count?" he asked unrepentantly.

"Cell…how could you…"

"Shall I demonstrate?"

"I'm serious Cell….why?"

"Why not? The entire human race is due to become extent within a matter of days, so why not give a few of them a jump start into the next life? Its only fitting that I warm up my future actions with a little exercise."

I looked at my feet. "You know, I was going to give you another chance…try to think that you're not all that bad. But now…I don't think I can, Cell. I just don't think I can."

"And you think your petty words will bother me?" He snapped lightly. "Say what you will, but what's done is done. And I have no regrets."

"None?"

"None."

"So what you forced upon my yesterday is just all part of your plan?"

He was quiet for a while, but his gaze was still hard. He knew that he'd have to think carefully before he answered. And carefully constructed was the statement he made. "What I did yesterday was purely spur of the moment. I allowed the human portion of my instincts to get the best of me, and all it proved was that my upbringing was correct—humans are humble, lonely creatures."

My brain thought quickly, and even now I'm not sure if what I had retaliated with made much sense. "Then you were on the verge of surrendering to such a lousy specimen."

Cell's mouth finally turned into a smile. He closed his eyes briefly and when his lids sprang back up I could have sworn that his eyes were brighter than ever. "Trust me, it will never happen again."

My heart sank. It was as if my whole world came crashing down all around me and I was left to stare at the nothingness that would swallow me up like a piece of candy. It wasn't pure affection I felt for him, but I had hoped, somewhere in the back of my brain, that maybe he'd change for me—maybe if I showed him what he wanted to see and hear then he'd stop this foolishness and give up. What I would've done after that, I don't know, but at least mankind would've been safe.

Cell chuckled lightly to himself. "What's wrong, Layrial? You look as if you've seen a ghost."

I held back the urge to yell at him with full rage mixed with the tears that wanted so badly to escape. Instead of doing any of the above, I decide it was time to give up. And this time I was not turning back.

I took little time to pack up everything I had taken from the restaurant and whatnot into the single plastic bag. I grabbed the blanket and swung it over my arm, picked up the bag and my sweater, and hopped off the platform. I didn't even take more than two steps when I heard him ask, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Home," was the single worded answer I gave him, but I made no attempt to turn to tell it straight to his face. I walked forward towards the road that I had traveled down several days before. I figured I could follow it and recognize something that would lead me back to the city. All I needed to do was keep my mind focused.

- - - -

I figured I had been walking for nearly six hours before I couldn't take it anymore. Adrenaline had kept me going up until now, but with every minute that passed the more I came to realize I was running out of steam. I had switched carrying arms multiple times, but now my legs begged me to give up. To my great remorse, I did. I collapsed. I just couldn't go on. The bag, blanket and anything else I had shoved into my hands went down with me and some ended up underneath my body as I lay helplessly on the ground. I was hot; I was too tired to care that I was hot. The sudden release of pressure on my feet and legs made them tingle and I was willing to bet they were starting to swell from the heat and unwanted and unexpected exercise. On top of it all, my stomach was upset to the point I wish I'd just throw up and get it over with.

After a few moments I pushed myself to roll over and face the sky. There were only a few clouds hanging above me, but not one was close enough to cover the sun for a few seconds to give me a break. I could feel a bead of sweat trickling down past my ear. I coaxed myself to finally lean over and pull out the last water bottle I had left—it was hard to believe I had gone through them all already. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough to make an entire trip back to the city. It took forever to get out here with a van—I had no chance of ever making it back by foot.

This was it; I was alone. I was finished.

I unscrewed the cap and let the remaining contents pour over my face; only maybe half of it at the most actually making it into my mouth. If it had been cold it might've felt good; but the heat had warmed it up days ago and now I was without any sort of hydrating substances.

_Where did I go wrong in life?_ Was the question that kept picking at my senseless brain; and I couldn't figure out an answer. I blamed it the power outage in the town I had been sent to who-knows how many days ago. I didn't even know how long I had been out here now. I tried to keep myself occupied by counting the times I had been forced to sleep in the cold nights with a single blanket for warmth, but honestly I couldn't agree on just how many times that had been.

My eyes started to close. I wanted to go to sleep so badly. I knew if I did that'd be the end of it all. Maybe that's all I needed. By the time someone found me way out here I'd already be vulture food. Actually, now that that came to mind, I'm surprised there weren't any vultures flocking around in anticipation for my carcass to become there feast.

The brightness of the sun and the temperature of the day were giving me a terrible headache. Not to mention I was starting to get hungry again from walking, but the thought of food made the urge to dislodge that remained in my system worse. I couldn't gather up the energy to do anything about it either. I was broken. Both in mind and body come to think of it. And you know what? I didn't care. I just let my eyes close and my muscles relax.

Somewhere in the distance I heard a voice. I believe I heard my name come from this voice, but I was so out of it I couldn't tell. I didn't even bother to acknowledge the voice's owner's presence until I felt a hand clutch my arm and pull me up. I opened my eyes, but my body was so limp I couldn't even tell what was really going on. The stranger picked me up and started leaving the spot where I had fallen. I was able to turn my head, but with my vision being so blurry I could hardly make out a face. My mind was so messed up it made me imagine it was Cell—that chalky skin with that small bit of purple and yellow, magenta eyes, the weird green thing on his head…

And all too soon I lost that image. Everything became easy and relaxed. My eyes closed. What was around me became no more.


	13. Starting from scratch

**Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood fanfic author:** Note that its 1:30 in the morning...and I'm putting this up. I finished it seconds before I left for work and decided, after making two pies, that I should edit and post it for you guys since you're so good. Thank you all for the reviews, once again. I do so enjoy them. And here's some answers to your questions:

_Draguna_: Yes, I updated ;) I had to mention you since you've been with me since the beginning.

_Aquasage:_ Bless you for being on cross country—my body couldn't handle running like that ;) And I guess I didn't mention, but should have, that Layrial had less than one bottle of water when she picked up and left. She's also not your athletic type, so 6hours for heris more than she could chew.Sorry 'bout that. And her mention of a "lousy specimen" was actually her way of giving Cell a bit of a hard time; she basically figured that's all she was to him at that point. She still has faith in herself, except she finally got tired of putting up with the nonsense she was going through. Couldn't blame her really…I deserve to get kicked after what I've been putting her through ;) hehe

_SSJSkaterTrunks:_ Thank you very much and your also welcome ;) hehe. I have been trying. I can't stand seeing characters out of character XD

I have no idea when I'll get another chance to update again—hopefully before the end of the weekend—but I will tell you that chapter 14 is already titled and set to be started. Happy Thanksgiving to all you Americans! And a jolly weekend to everyone else:

* * *

**Chapter 13:** _Starting from scratch…_

At first I thought it was my imagination; somewhere near me I heard a constant and steady beeping. It was starting to get irritating the longer I listened. Finally I made a move to find what cruel object was keeping me from my restful sleep. When I moved, though, I discovered there was something attached to my arm. Eyes opening, I saw that it was an intravenous. I was in a hospital. The annoying sound was a heart monitor. My eyes looked around to see mint-green walls, pink, yellow and blue curtains hanging around my temporary bed, and a small window to the far right. It was me, myself, and I at the moment, and for the life of me I couldn't remember just how I had gotten here.

I had held my head up for several minutes looking around, wondering just what had happened; finally I relaxed and my head sank back into the pillow. Was it all a dream? Had I gotten into a car accident or something and the entire encounter with Cell was merely a figment of my imagination? Maybe I was losing my mind…

The last thing I could recall was walking in the desert. I know I had been tired and really hot, but other than that I couldn't figure out how I wound up in a hospital bed. It had to be a dream, because in that dream I was miles and miles from the city or even a town. So then what caused me to pass out badly enough to get me here?

A tall dark women appeared in the doorway, knocking gently on the door. She wore scrubs and carried a clipboard, so I figured she was a nurse of some sort. "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged and watched her come in to check the readings on the monitors. "How long have I been here?"

She glanced down at her clipboard. "Since May 11th, so about three days now."

"Three?" I asked in astonishment. "How'd I get here?"

"Well, I wasn't on duty the night you arrived, but I heard that you were found just outside our front doors here, completely unconscious. We don't know how you got here otherwise. The only way we knew who you were was because you were reported missing."

"Who reported me missing?" I asked stupidly—I should've known the answer.

"Your boss posted it and when we notified the police they put two and two together. Do you still feel thirsty and tired?"

"No?"

"Good," she said. "You had heat stroke and we were afraid you didn't get here in time."

I idly wondered if heat stroke could give you such terrible nightmares. Then again, how the hell was I exposed to the sun for so long if it wasn't all true? I never stood outside more than ten minutes, even if it was for work; as soon as I was off the air I made my way to a shady spot.

"Heat stroke," I said without really realizing it. "That's it? No mental illness?"

The nurse laughed. "I don't think so—you seemed to be in perfect health otherwise and there were no abrasions or anything to your head. We looked up your file from your primary physician and you've never had a record of mental illness before. Why?"

"Just wondering," I replied softly and looked away. So it was true. Cell was real. Everything that I kept thinking about had actually taken place. Damn it.

"Well, I'm sure you're ready for some real food," she said as she turned towards the door. "I'm Su, by the way, if you need anything."

"Thanks," was my simple reply and I was once again left alone with my own thoughts. And of course, those were sticking to the whole matter at hand. Somehow I had been brought from the desert to the hospital. I know I couldn't have done it myself—it was impossible. Someone must've found me. Some really nice person who was traveling along saw me half dead and decided to help. I'm glad there were people like that still left in this world.

"There you are!"

I looked up quickly and my smile faded. The last person I really wanted to deal with right now was Sazuke. "What the hell happened out there?"

"Do we really need to discuss this right now?" I asked as I felt my headache threatening to return.

"They said you were awake—I've been sitting out there for hours."

"How kind," I said miserably. "Somehow I doubt it was out of concern for my well-being."

"Of course it was!" He said, that vein on his head starting to appear. "I want to know what the hell happened. We never got the transmission from the camera or the van, so I've been left in the dark for the past five days! When you guys didn't come back, I figured you met the same fate as the other news teams did."

"Thanks," I said dryly.

He didn't seem to hear me; instead, he just went on with his own babble. "Then when I heard you were found right outside the hospital, dirty as hell and looking as if you've been through a war, I hurried right down to get some answers."

"What did you think happened?" I asked quickly, topped with annoyance.

"I already told you," he said. "Layrial, what happened out there?"

I thought for a moment. Did he really need to know? I could already tell that the moment I started speaking of my experiences with Cell a camera crew would fly through that door and I'd be on international television. No…he didn't need to know. What happened out there was my business and no one would ever find out. If that Goku-character knew anything more than what he already did from the day I arrived, fine. I didn't care. But I didn't need my boss using me to get the top story of the century.

"I don't remember," I lied.

"Oh c'mon, Layrial," Sazuke said with a laugh. "Surely you remember something—you survived this long, didn't you?"

"It took me this long to get back here since our van was destroyed," I told him. "Look, Taka and Chuck are dead—that's all I know. I don't remember anything else after that."

"Well, what's this Cell like?"

"I'm asking you kindly to give me a break, Sazuke," I said between semi-clenched teeth. "I don't remember. Can we please just leave it at that?"

"You're not making any sense," he said. "You should go through some therapy or something. But once you do, I'll make you my top reporter. If you can remember anything, I'll raise your salary higher than you can imagine."

For a moment my heart stopped. I had just been offered what I had wanted the most—I would be the top reporter, the highest paid, and I'd never have to look up to someone again. This was it; this is what I had worked for, what I had longed for since I was in high school. I'd be the best and everyone who watched TV would know it.

"No," is what came out of my mouth. My mind worked it out. This wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to be happy, to live peacefully away from all of this. "I don't want the job."

"Say what?"

"I said I don't want it. You can find someone else, Sazuke. I quit."

Sazuke's round face turned red as he stared at me with curious eyes. Then he laughed loudly. "Layrial, I really think you need to get some sleep."

"I've been here for three days," I told him. "I think I've slept enough. I've made up my mind…after this whole thing, I don't need it anymore. I quit—that's that."

He frowned. "Fine…be that way. I'll call up Cerise."

"Go ahead." That must have been the final straw because he said nothing more and turned and left.

- - -

The hospital discharged me later that evening and I caught a cab back to my apartment. It felt good to be home, but odd all at the same time. I hadn't slept in my own bed in a quite a while—first from being on vacation, then that political assignment, then the whole Cell thing. I wasn't as tired as I had been, so collapsing onto my couch in front of the television with old movies playing for hours on end wasn't the first thing that came to mind. I made the choice to call my parents and see how they were—it was the least I could do after surviving death several times; I figured from here forward I was starting over. Making sure my parents were good and letting them know I was ok in case they had heard about my disappearance was the top priority right now.

They weren't home. Figures. I could've left a message on the answering machine, but I didn't. I made a note and left it on my kitchen table as to remind myself tomorrow morning to try again. I figured they might not have heard anything about me since they hadn't rushed down here to see me. Either that or they were notified I was dead and never found out I appeared in front of the hospital a few days later.

I heated up a frozen dinner and ate it silently—no music, no TV in the background. I just sat and thought. Why did Cell just let me go? I remembered the agreement he had with the blonde guy, Goku; he said he'd let me live, but would keep me there until the day of the tournament. That way, he'd have insurance and wouldn't be giving in to Goku's request. Either he forgot about that whole conversation, (though I doubted that) or he did just finally give in. But why? He didn't care about my life.

Yeah, that's why he allowed you to get food, to freshen up, and ultimately leave. He could've easily killed you countless times, and didn't. _Get it through your thick skull, Layrial—the guy loved you._ Impossible. I refused to believe it.

I kept telling myself that for the rest of the night until I crawled into bed, wearing nice clean pajamas, tucked under nice clean sheets after having taken a nice hot, relaxing bubble bath. I had been the first person to survive Cell's presence. And the reason why was something I was trying to keep myself from accepting because unfortunately…it was the only logical explanation I could think of.


	14. Against All Odds

**The Author says thanks: **I thank all of you very much for your kind reviews. They've motivated me to sit here on my first night off of the week and write up this chapter instead of giving into my "needs" and "wants" of playing Zelda: Wind Waker I give my humble apologies if you find any spelling or grammatical errors—I had attempted to edit, but I'm not sure if I was completely awake enough to do a decent job. Hopefully I pulled it off. Oh, and a special thanks to **Black Mors** for the lovely review! It touched my heart—honestly. Enjoy y'all.

* * *

**Chapter 14:** _Against all odds_

Sitting around my drab little apartment for two days straight did nothing for me. I hoped it'd give me a time to relax and let myself unwind after my terrible week of horror and pain. It didn't. In fact, it was probably the worst thing I could have done to myself. I sat around with either the TV on and stared at talk shows and soap operas or sat around doing nothing in utter silence. I attempted to go shopping since buying myself clothes or whatever usually made me feel better. Sure, I was out of my living space and around society again, but it wasn't enough. I didn't know what to do at this point…it was driving me nuts.

Finally, I gave up. I called my mom again in hopes that maybe she'd think of something; actually, I hoped she'd invite me up for a while, but she didn't. She and Dad were to be hosting some party—a black tie affair—and I could tell when I wasn't wanted. They didn't need to worry about my problems right now. Especially when she told me my brother's wife was pregnant again. Joy to the world…

I called upon my best friend who was on a business trip in China, but the extent of our conversation was her wedding plans. Everyone was happy; everyone found someone they were attracted to. I hadn't. I was still alone in this oversized world with not even a career to work for anymore. Just why the Hell did I quit?

The only thing I could think to do that night was put on my biggest t-shirt that came down to my knees, heat up a cup of tea and crawl into bed while watching the news. Again, another mistake…..

"The top story today is what will happen the day after tomorrow," Don Doel said with an annoyingly eerie voice.

"That's right, Don," John Smuts replied and the camera focused on him alone. "The Cell Games are due to begin in less than thirty-six hours. Yet I don't think that'll be a problem since early this morning Martial Arts Champion for the past two years, Hercule, announced that he plans on putting a swift end to the threat."

The screen switched to show several microphones pushed under the nose of a tall man with dark, bushy hair. His brow was nearly as large as his chin and the confidence that he gloated was sickening. It was even worse when he opened that big mouth of his; "I have one message for Cell—get ready to meet your maker! You have NO chance of winning when you're in the same country as the great Hercule!"

"Please," I said and switched the station.

"Hercule has closed his doors for the next twenty-four hours so he can practice and mediate in private to prepare for his big, but probably more than simple, fight with the murderer, Cell," said the newsman on the next station, which gave me more reason to flip the channel.

Finally I gave up. I couldn't take the sound of other people's voices anymore. I turned the device off and flopped down under the warm covers. But sleep didn't come. Instead, I laid there staring at the white ceiling. Deep down I had a terrible feeling I knew what was going to happen; I knew what I needed to do. It's just…did I want to do it?

I suppose I did enough to do it. The next morning I packed up a small duffle bag with a change of clothes, food and a couple bottles of water. Then I headed over to the airport where I was able to rent a car. I hoped I could find my way back out to the desert. I figured it couldn't be that hard…just head down the same road we did a few days ago and it'd bring me right to the ring…

As I drove with the radio on a low volume control, I realized that this trip was inevitable. I should have known this before I even left the first time. That monster had done what he actually might not have expected to do even though he pretended to do so! And that barely even made sense as I thought of it! That…bastard…hooked me. He hooked me to the point where now he was reeling me in. Who knew what would happen after I got back there. Would he laugh in my face? Finally decide to kill me 'cause he was bored with me and no longer had any use for my pitiful existence in his presence? Or…would he wait until the morning of his Cell Games and then put me on display as the trophy to the winner of his tournament…?

The possibilities swam around and around in my shrinking head for the entire trip. What was I thinking…what could I possibly be thinking. Going back to that arena would solve nothing. I was miserable when I was there….I was miserable when I wasn't. I don't know what the meaning of my life was anymore! I needed a way out!

_Layrial, get a hold of yourself, for Heaven's sake!_

I slowly brought the car to a halt on the side of the road. My hands slid off the steering wheel and I stared at the Mitsubishi logo designed into the center of it. Honestly, what I was I doing? What did I hope to accomplish from this? If I figured it out right, I had only twenty more miles or so to go. Why was I driving out here to put myself into a place…a position that I had been miserable in?

For the longest time I stared at that logo as if it would produce the answers. The thought of going back kept telling me that's not what I had to do or what I wanted to do. No, I had to do this. If I was sealing my own fate then so be it; I needed to see what would happen as strange as that may sound. And it all came down to one, bittersweet thing….

I loved him.

Even if it was a bit of a strong statement, I loved him against the faith of all mankind. I alone was the one person that had seen a side of him that snatched me up from the little world I was living in. He was vicious, cruel, and a cold-hearted murderer, but it was what lay beneath all that that I wanted more of. It was his way of conducting his mannerism. It was probably a weak and poor reason for liking a killer and android to boot, but it was what I had finally come to terms with. I was willing to admit it to anyone who asked me. Even Cell himself.

I took the car out of park and continued down the road. In twenty miles I'd be face to face with him and I'll find out for sure if I had lost my mind completely or if I had done the right thing. Just maybe…a secret desire of mine…I'd be able to turn him from his intentions…

I was somewhere around a quarter of a mile away from the grand arena Cell had built and where he still stood directly in the center like a statue. I brought the car to a stop next to the side of a large rock formation and turned off the engine. I was pretty sure Cell saw me—he'd have lost his touch if he hadn't. Whether he knew who it was or not yet, I'd see what he'd do in a matter of minutes.

I opened the door and got out, but my eyes remained glued to the ring. If my eyes were serving me correctly, he was watching. Obviously he was much too far away to tell what sort of expression was plastered on his face (probably none, knowing him), but he knew I was there. I wondered what he was thinking….

Tossing the duffle bag over my shoulder, I locked up the car and started my casual walk to the white-tiled platform. As I approached I saw that Cell still had made no move, but his eyes were definitely watching me closely. The closer I got, the more I came to realize that instead of a smile I was hoping to see I saw a look of frustration? Dissatisfaction? Unease? It was hard to tell, but that didn't stop me. If he wanted to kill me because I showed up he would've done so already. Then again, he might want to wish me well in the next life before he slaughtered me.

I boldly stopped when my knees nearly touched the edge of the arena. He made no move and at first neither did I. "Hello, Cell."

Cell remained silent, but finally his foot pivoted and his body was now facing me directly. "Why on Earth have you returned, Layrial?" His tones were so hard to figure out it hurt. It almost sounded like he was just plain confused, but a brief sigh before he spoke had said otherwise.

I stepped up onto the ring and dropped my bag in the corner beneath the cone-shaped column. "I wanted to."

"You wanted to," he repeated. "That's not a conclusive response. I'd like a better explanation."

I shrugged as I walked closer—damn I was getting braver and braver. I hoped I could remain brave while he choked me again. "I was in the hospital for three days, although I only remember one. Then I was home by myself for two days. And during that time I realized there was something…just something about you that intrigued me."

He laughed, his eyes closing for a moment while doing so. "I intrigue you, eh? My dear girl, how does it come to be that I, Cell, the most powerful being in the universe came to be an intriguing creature to a mere human?"

I shrugged for the second time. "I can't explain it. If I was able to then I probably would've found a way to talk myself out of coming here."

"It might've been the wiser choice," he replied in a deep voice. "You're putting yourself in the middle of what will be the fight for the survival of your planet."

"I don't care." I had done it. I had surprised him enough that his eyes became a bit wider and his lips parted slightly. I'm sure he had never expected me, or anyone for that matter, to say something like that. I had no way of defending myself against him and for me to say I didn't care what happened to me must've struck the right chord.

"Brave," was his reply and I should've predicted it. "Foolish but brave. I suppose I should be honored."

"Yeah, you should be," I said. "It's early in the morning, I haven't had my coffee, and I'm trying to overrule the fact that I'm insane."

"I wouldn't go as far as calling yourself insane, Layrial. Perhaps a bit confused."

"What do you mean confused?"

Cell's perfectly straight, white teeth gleamed through his smooth grayish lips. His cool demeanor was overpowering, but I held my ground well enough. "You think I have some sort of concern for your well being. You are also trying to convince yourself, if not secretly hoping that I have a mutual care for your affections." He snickered. "I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but none of the above is true on my half."

Did someone throw a rock at my head? Someone tell me if someone threw something at me. Please. Because my head and chest ached terribly the moment those words spilled from his mouth. But then my mind worked quickly—I wasn't going to let him get away with it. There was no way. I hadn't come all this way to be rejected—not me. Not Layrial Adercon.

"Oh really now? So my assumption on you _not _being the one who rescued me was true then." Honestly, I don't know how I formed the question so nicely in my head that quickly. Usually I don't think of stuff like that until hours after it could've been used. But I thankfully discovered that the way the sentence was structured would force him to tell me what happened either way, since I didn't know who had brought me to the hospital. Then again, he could lie, but somehow I doubted that he'd do so.

Cell's smile faded slightly though and I became nervous. "As a matter of fact, I had done the deed. I'm surprised you made it as far as you did after I got over the initial shock that you had the guts to go through with leaving me."

That rock came back and hit me again. Hell, it wasn't a rock; it was a bloody boulder. Had he…had he just said what I thought he said? He really did save me? But….

"Is that so hard to believe?"

I shook my head like the cartoon characters did when they were in a trance. "Say what?"

"The look on your face suggests you really didn't think I had."

"A very, very small part me wondered, but no, I didn't think you had done it. I thought it was beneath you to do something nice…" I was going to say 'nice for once' or 'nice for a human' but I thought better of it.

Cell looked away, one side of his brow looking a bit higher than the other. "Trust me, if I hadn't acted so absurdly I would've just left you there to die."

My mouth twisted into what had to be an odd, what-the-hell sort of way. "Then why the heck did you do it?"

"I couldn't tell you."

"Cell, lets just be honest with each other," I said after a long pause. "Obviously there's something between us, even if neither of us have figured it out completely or if we have we don't want to admit it."

"Perhaps," was the simple response. "But don't get any ideas from it."

"Like what? You think I'm going to ask you to run off with me and get married?"

"Please," he snorted and looked at me again. "I refuse to even acknowledge the deceitful ties you humans make with one another."

"They're not deceitful if you love the other person," I said. "And I wouldn't marry you anyway. So don't flatter yourself."

"Oh trust me, I won't. But I assure you for the sake of settling your mind and admitting it openly to myself that there is something there that I'm not sure I completely _want_ to comprehend; especially now. My Cell Games begin tomorrow morning and nothing will hold me back."

"I figured not," I replied…but what was going through my head was the fact that he said exactly what I had been thinking. At least he came out and said it because now it definitely sank into my thick skull.

* * *

**Last Note: Draguna** was correct with predictions. I'll have to say it was rather predictable that this chapter would happen, but honestly, do you think I'd let all you wonderful people, not to mention Layrial (lol) just drop everything? Please…you should know me better than that. 


	15. Fate Crossed the Line

**The Author's notorious pre-chapter notice: **I hope all of you have been doing well—and thank you again for the loverly reviews. I do enjoy them J Oh, and **aquasage**, it's not his warrior skills…it's his ego ;) I do hope y'all enjoy this. It might sound like yet another repeat of previous events, but trust me…you'll see the difference. Any questions—just ask away and I'll answer them.

* * *

**Chapter 15: **_Fate Crossed the Line_

I stood there for the longest time trying to figure out what I was supposed to do next. It was ridiculous, actually; I had no reason to be out here in the middle of nowhere with a freak that was dead-set on destroying the world just so I could possibly be killed when a what was supposed to be a huge battle started in less than twenty-four hours. What the hell was I honestly thinking? At this point, I had a realized two things: one, I was in fact intrigued by this…creature…more so than I really wanted to think about; or two, I had suffered a serious blow to my head at some point in the course of the past five days and now I was either hallucinating or insane.

At this point I didn't know which option I preferred to be actually experiencing and which would be more beneficial in the long run (if one could even say either are beneficial), but I had this aching, stinging-pain in the pit of my stomach that number one was the reason. The question now was did I want this to be true….no…it should be just how and why it was true. Never mind—it's not important. The important part of all of this was that Cell was standing directly in front of me with that sour, yet focused attitude scraped all over his angelic face and I was at a loss at what I should do to rescue myself a second-time around.

"Well, Layrial," he said suddenly, bringing my eyes to adjust to his tall, slender form, "what do you propose should be done now? Shall we continue yet another lengthy conversation which will include insults and torture on your mind while I indulge in the pleasure of getting you frustrated, or do you think that its time for you to give up this charade and leave."

I stared at him while blinking several times. I think my brain was still back on the first sentence, trying to pick apart the words and figure out an answer, but I did hear everything he said. It almost hurt the way he structured his sentences so…perfectly, the damn idiot. I frowned.

Naturally the first thing that happened was my mouth started flapping before any logical brain cells could start to function properly. "First of all, who says I get frustrated?"

"I refuse to answer such an obvious question," he said with a deadly smile and the moment I felt my face getting hot I knew his answer was a deliberate test to prove himself right.

"Alright, then why is this a charade?"

"What would you prefer to call it?"

I said nothing. Instead my head shifted downward so my eyes could stare at my feet. I hated him so much. So why, then, couldn't I get myself to understand the fact that I should leave, forget about everything that's happened, and get home to continue my life? That was easy; I was too proud to do so. "Look Cell," I said finally after thinking it over carefully. "I want you to honestly answer this without any attitude or sarcasm involved."

"Well my dear that will all depend on the question itself" he said, but I ignored him since I considered it an interruption to my thoughts.

"Do you or do you not feel something other than a need or desire to kill me?"

Cell made no comment, no motion, no blinking of the eyes, and maybe even no breathing for a long moment. I know he was debating over and over in that thick head of his the true answer and whether or not he wanted to tell me. But finally his eyes closed and his face became serious. "Perhaps."

Perhaps? PERHAPS? What is wrong with this guy! I wanted to hurt him so badly….

"That's not a straight forward answer," I replied mocking him from previous discussion. "Perhaps it leans more towards yes, but you could be playing your mind tricks again."

"I take no pride in provoking people with _mind tricks_. I'd much rather use my supreme intellect in making others feel inadequate." He smiled when he took a quick second to notice my face staring at him stupidly. I wish I had known what I looked like before he opened his eyes, but it was too late. "To answer your question completely though," he continued and my heart started pounding in fear, "and first I'd like to inform you this is mere observation on my own personal feelings, that yes, I do believe there is the chance that there's something that has kept you alive longer than any normal human would've lasted under the same circumstances you found yourself in."

I think that was the most I had ever heard him speak at one time. It was beautiful. That voice was so mind-captivating that I stood there in awe and probably looked like a total loser because of it. But there I had it. Cell cared for me. It was out in the open now, but I wasn't sure what to do with that information. Of course I wasn't going to go running back into town to announce it to everyone that I, Layrial Adercon, had done something to tie up what little heart Cell had in that broad chest of his. I was thrilled.

"Stop looking all blissful," he said suddenly. His face had turned into a frown and a look of awful disgust. "Do you think I take pride in admitting that to you? I'm ashamed of it, really. It's against my programming and everything Dr. Gero requested of me. Not to mention the fact that I have no use for you."

I swear the guy was bipolar or something. My enthusiasm dropped rapidly and I felt myself taking a step back….oh no, not because of the fact of what he said. No, it was because he raised his hand and a ball of light that he was somehow able to form appeared in his palm, and it was being aimed at me. I took a deep breath and stood up tall. He wouldn't do it…no, he hadn't before!

"Don't think you'll survive this one," he said gruesomely. "I have more important matters to look forward to and I need to keep my concentration on that rather than having you around to attempt to distract me. Say good-bye to your miserable life, Layrial."

He was serious. He was actually dead serious. Cell was about to deliver what he had been holding back since we first met. He was going to kill me because I was a distraction!

And that's when the idea struck me. I backed away, tears filling my eyes slowly, but I knew what might hold him long enough for me to talk some sense into him. "So that's it then?" I started, rapidly thinking on how to put it all together.

"Yes," was the answer and he stepped forward, the energy ball growing larger. Obviously he wanted to scare me to death before I actually met my doom.

"Is it because you don't know how to handle it; or is it because you're too much of a coward to face the fact that you went against your so-called programming."

"I am not a coward!" He yelled. It was the first time I had heard his voice rise above a normal tone, and let me tell you, it wasn't pleasant. Before he had been mad, but now he had actually yelled at me and I could tell he was pretty much pissed off to no end.

My reaction wasn't what I expected. Normally I think I'd back off and stop pursuing all intentions on instigating the other person further or whatnot if I saw that it wouldn't get me anywhere. This time, though, I knew that I was probably dead no matter what so there was no harm in putting up a fighting chance.

"You're not, huh? Then what the hell do you call it, Cell?" Suddenly I had felt a strong gust of wind stir up and dust circled around us. I don't know what he was doing to create such a commotion, but whatever it was started to scare the crap out of me…but I had to stand strong. "You never thought that you'd find a flaw in yourself! But if you think about it, it's not a flaw! It only makes you more real than a stupid machine!"

I was hoping to the Heavens above that what I was saying was making some sort of sense to him, although everything was basically my way of getting my panic into words. It _was_ actually true—if he was able to admit that he did have feelings, feelings he wasn't supposed to be able to experience then he was more human than he even thought possible.

Before I knew it I was pressed up against something cold and hard. I couldn't tell what it was because it happened so quickly; I figured it was one of the pillars in a corner of the ring because I don't recall feeling myself falling back and banging against the floor. Everything around me was dark and cold; the wind was blowing my hair so hard that it kept striking the side of my face like a whip. I opened my eyes to see not only his salient eyes, but that ball of light directly in front of my chest. His face was so menacing and scary from the light hit it.

"Foolish girl," he spat. "I hold your life in the palm of my hand. I can blow you away without any hopes of finding a crump of your existence in the mess of rubble that'll land on the desert floor. You have _NO_ idea what you're dealing with!"

"What's the difference? If you kill me you've lost! It'll mean that I was right after all!"

"If you live it'll mean you were right on me being fond of you!"

"I never came out and said you were fond of me!"

The grasp he held on my throat then was worse than I had ever felt before—this time I could feel the blood rushing to my head and I had absolutely no oxygen left to conserve. "Please…" I squeaked out. "Cell…you're hurting me."

The dust settled and the wind calmed. The light in his hand disappeared and the restraint on my body loosened. Just as quickly as it started it had all ended. Cell didn't back away, but the threat on my life wasn't so apparent—again I had escaped his wrath; but for what? I dare say I didn't want to experience anything remotely similar to it again—I've never been so terrified in my entire life.

"I will not admit to losing to you Layrial," Cell said softly; "but I will say that what you claim holds true. You caught me and I shall admit the fact that my anger let it be so."

I wasn't quite sure I understood so the only thing I could do was stand there and stare at him like I was still waiting for him to shove his hand through my chest and wrench out my heart. I wouldn't put it past him…

"I want you to tell me the real reason why you came back out here."

I hesitated only because I didn't know what to say, although I believe I had answered that question for him before. I told him he intrigued me—what other answer did he want? "I…I guess it's because there's something that's struck me into…liking you."

"Like," he repeated. "As in that intrigue you mentioned earlier was true? You have an interest in me beyond the fact that it would make such a wonderful story that you survived my clutches?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Don't ask me why…I just…" I shrugged and looked away. "I think it's your eyes and voice that have captivated me. They're so human I forget that you're an android. And your…intellect, as you called it, is so smooth and stuff that its hard for me to remember that you're a terrorist, not a poet or something."

Cell let out a silent, but deep breath and turned away. His arms were crossed and his head slightly bowed. If I hadn't known better I'd say he was depressed or something. And although I could see his humiliation clearly written across the board everywhere, I had to ask. "Cell…why didn't you kill me just now when you were so close?"

At first I thought maybe he was in a state of shock that'd prevent him from giving out any sort of logical sense that he had been noted for. Either that or he was deeply involved in the thoughts that he gave in to what he had considered his better judgment. However, I was wrong and apparently he was just giving himself a second to form his words on his tongue. "When you said I was hurting you I realized…it wasn't what I wanted to do."

I guess I kind of started to feel bad for him at this point. I had torn apart what made Cell so powerful in his own mind—or at least I thought I did. It was a bit much to call it "winning," but it was for the most part true; I had overpowered him with the simple words and actions of human emotions. I decided that maybe it was time the barrier closed between us. I reached forward and placed my hand on his right wing, my fingers sliding for a second over its smooth surface. It felt hard, yet almost like a rubberized skin all at the same time. Actually, remembering back to a vacation to an aquarium, it felt like the skin of a dolphin.

Cell must not have expected my touch; his head came up and he looked over his shoulder at me. I glanced up at him and knew the fear that still gurgled inside of me was built into my expression. He turned, making my hand back away from the thought that he'd try to strike me for touching him; instead though he looked down at me gently.

"Did I scare you and what you put on was all a show?" he asked humbly.

"Yeah, Cell, you scared the living daylights out of me," I said honestly. "But I figured what was the difference whether I died in apparent fear or tried to be brave?" While he stood there, I decided to try again; I wanted to know if he'd let me touch him or if he'd back away because it was something foreign to him. It wasn't easy because he was so much taller, but I stretched up my arm and reached over to touch his face. My finger tips ran along his cheek, down the side of his face and to the harder surface of his jaw and chin. He stood there without flinching as if testing me to see what I'd do. I couldn't do much more because even standing on my toes wouldn't make me tall enough to see over his shoulder.

I let my hand start to fall, but he caught it before it skimmed past his firm chest. His hand held mine gently, but his eyes were locked on mine so tightly I thought if I moved they'd be pulled out of their sockets. "Do you want to kiss me again, Layrial?"

I stood there dumbfounded at his question—only he would be bold enough to ask such a thing. Only I would be so stupid as to stand there and look like an idiot. "Yes…" was what finally came from my mouth. It was done—we now fully admitted that surrender was inevitable and fate had won.


	16. The Last Day

**Babble: **It's almost over and that's so hard to believe! You guys are being so good ;) But then again, I guess I am getting these out fairly quickly. I'm finally finished with classes, so I'm going to take a gamble that the end will be sometime late next week. The next chapter may be up Sunday or Monday, depending if I stop being lazy and finish my Christmas shopping or not.

Anyway…enjoy lovelies.

* * *

**Chapter 16: **_The Last Day_

The fact that I had just finished kissing the very same person who was moments away from killing me was a large bubble that kept floating around in my head. Was I really that far out of my mind to allow such a thing to happen? There are always the stories that my old news company covered on how some woman had to divorce her man because he was trying to kill her; or those court cases where the man actually did. And here I was allowing myself to freely be embraced by the world's largest murderer to date. I _was_ really gone.

Yet there was something about the kiss that made me think that he might not have killed me. First off, he said that he didn't want to hurt me. If you think about it that makes no sense—he didn't want to hurt me, yet he was about to blow me into microscopic bits? Go figure, right? But it wasn't just that that made me think that there was something there besides his curiosity over strange feelings he allegedly wasn't supposed to know about, unless he was really good at hiding it. The way his hands touched my arms and shoulders, or how his thumb gently stroked my cheek gave me such a chill I forgot that he wasn't the Prince Charming every girl wishes would sweep her off her feet. His mouth was warm and gentle, unlike the cold bitter feeling one would assume he'd give off. It was strange….

Cell looked at me with a questioning glance; then he turned and stepped away from me. "You should leave."

I was so happy for those few moments our faces were locked together like magnets, even if I was standing on my toes to the point I thought they'd break off. Then he comes out with a statement like that. "But…why? We just—"

"I know _we just_," he said almost bitterly. "Do you not understand, Layrial? I'm your worst nightmare, whether you see it directly or not. Tomorrow the fate of your planet will be decided and I will not back down from my mission."

"I thought…"

"You thought I'd give up because I said I've grown fond of you? I'm afraid your mistaken, my dear." He half turned and his head glanced towards me. "If you stay here you'll be in grave danger. I don't plan on restraining myself to this small arena for the entire event; and when I do break lose things could get rather ugly."

I could only imagine what sort of ugly things he was referring to. I'm sure he was ready to kill whoever tried to fight him tomorrow, but just how would he do it? "No," I said suddenly, catching myself by surprise in a way, but a split-second later I looked up defiantly.

"I beg your pardon?"

I shook my head. "I said no. I'm not leaving. It's my choice to be here, right?"

Cell tilted his head back a bit and looked down at me with wider eyes. "I suppose…"

"Then it's my choice to stay and watch. I'm not afraid—damn it, if I'm not afraid to be standing here with you right now then I'm not afraid of freaking watching a damn martial arts tournament."

Cell stood speechless for what felt like hours. He said nothing or made no attempts to move or blink. I don't know what he was thinking at that moment, but I'm guessing along the lines of wondering what had gotten into my head.

"Very well," he said, a smile breaking his lower face and his eyes closing while his head bowed respectfully. "I'll allow you to stay, but if I were you I'd keep my distance. I can't and won't watch out for you—make sure you understand that."

"Cell, I'm a big girl," I said with a small chuckle, although he has just blown my little thought out of the window, "I can take care of myself…" Yeah, sure thing…I'll just fly away like you do if something comes up. Damn, I was hoping he wouldn't say that and that he'd make sure I was safe. Maybe he still will….doubtful though.

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have important matters to attend to."

"Huh?" I thought we were over with this nonsense! Now he was leaving? What the hell? "What sort of stuff now?"

"I'd like to stretch my muscles before the big fight. It's only fair that I be at my best when the others line up tomorrow to sign their death warrants."

I frowned and stomped my foot. "Damn it, Cell, I'm tired of being left out here by myself." I can't believe that came out of my mouth. I didn't realize it had until his eyes grew wider at the sound of my attitude.

But instead of receiving another lecture, I heard his suave chuckle. "You should've thought of that before you came out here. We've spent enough time embracing each other for now."

I crossed my arms. "What do you think this is all about? Do you think I want you to be holding me constantly and sweet talking me under the moonlight?" I laughed. "No…no, no, no; I just don't like being out here by myself! I have no defense, don't you realize that? If something came out to attack me, what would I do?"

"Run," he said with a very high level of amusement. "I'm sure you're capable of that—especially now that you're not wearing that ridiculous pair of footwear you had when we first met."

I gasped at him as he floated into the air. His smile was so stunning I wasn't able to fight back with another outburst of protests. He gave me a wave that consisted of only two fingers and then he was gone seconds later.

- - - -

He had been gone for so long it was starting to get on my nerves. I don't care if he was an android or not…he still acted like a guy. It just got me so mad! I mean, I come out here and almost get myself killed and what does he do? Leaves! What the hell?

I probably had gone over those six sentences at least ten times. For a while I went back and sat in the car, listened to the radio, or just stared at the dashboard while having the air conditioning blowing in my face. The days were growing hotter; if this tournament was not until another month I'd consider giving up and leaving. Being out here in the dead of summer wasn't my idea of fun.

I returned to the ring with my duffle bag of stuff I grabbed before leaving the apartment. I opened the bag of chips (how healthy) and munched on them until the bag was nearly half gone. It wasn't the first time I'd gone through half a bag of chips in one sitting—I usually ate like a horse when I was nervous or upset over something. I assume this could count.

Whatever was keeping Cell was going to get a piece of my mind though, whether it was someone _trying_ to destroy him now or if it was his own fault….

I paused at that point after thinking of the possibility. I wasn't thinking that he was in danger now, but I wondered if it'd come to that point tomorrow. I knew that Goku character was bound to show up tomorrow and by the looks of him, he wasn't someone to pass by without considering. Cell seemed intrigued by that guy and I'm willing to bet Cell was itching to meet him in the ring. But my question was what was the chance that someone could overpower Cell?

Could Cell die tomorrow? Could someone actually be…I gulped…more powerful than him? It was a scary thought, but as long as they were on the right side I guess it wouldn't be that bad. Then again, there was me to think about. What would I honestly think and do if that moment came? Would I mourn the android's death if it came to that? Would I…cry for him?

I guess that brought me to the question of whether it was lust or love. Obviously I had no intentions of doing anything further than what we had done in those few moments earlier, but…was it just his voice and face that caught me (not to mention his perfectly etched body no matter how unusual it was) or was it more than that? _Did I actually love Cell?_

The answer I told myself was no. It was impossible. I barely loved my last boyfriend; there was no way I could fall for a guy like this one. It was impossible and I didn't even want to consider what my life would be like. Even if I did love him I knew it wasn't a mutual feeling. If it were, he would realize that if the Earth was destroyed, I'd be gone with it. Unless he was one of those people who could easily shrug things off and move on with life. I wouldn't put it past him.

"Deep in thought, are you?"

I jumped, feel blood rushing to my appendages quickly. I turned in my spot on the floor to see the android who invaded my thoughts standing there with a peculiar smile spread across his angelic face. What was he thinking…?

"No, not really," I said shortly later after remembering he had asked me a question. Actually it was more of an insinuation than a question.

"I'm sure," was the reply and he walked over to me; the squeakiness of his feet repelling off my eardrums to make me remember that he wasn't human and definitely not normal. I couldn't love someone like that.

"Took you long enough," I commented as I got to my feet.

"Oh trust me, I could've been gone a lot longer," he said, "but I felt that you might die of starvation since you're only mortal."

I laughed. "And you're not?"

"You should know by now, dear Layrial, that I don't require food or water for survival. Its part of my design—I can live anywhere."

"All the more fun for you," I said.

"But of course. Though I see I wasted my efforts coming back since you came prepared this time. I had wondered if you had been smart enough not to take any chances and go hungry."

I crossed my arms and tapped my foot—old habit—and gave him a mean look. "Are you enjoying the cracks you're making at me?"

He continued to smile, but no words emerged from his pale lips. He turned around and slowly made his way back to the center of the arena, like always. His back was towards me and his silence remained, which made me wonder what he was thinking and what he intended to do for the rest of the time between now and tomorrow morning.

"Layrial, may I ask you something?"

I had never heard anyone, even him, ask something like that in such a polite manner. I replied with a yes after getting over the suddenness of his question.

"Do you love me?"

My mouth dropped. My eyes felt like they popped out of my head. My stomach jumped then came crashing down and twisted over itself repeatedly. Did he…had he…just asked me what I thought he had? And in such an innocently curious tone it hurt to even consider backing away from the whole thing and ignoring him? I couldn't believe it. Now what was I supposed to say? I hadn't even figured it out for myself and he wants to know?

"I don't know," was what came out—I guess that was close enough to the truth. I feared what he'd say or do if I said no. "Why?"

"I'm aware of how human emotions operate and I was merely curious to see how quickly it would work in a situation such as this. Now you're either lying to me or you truly don't realize it yourself." He paused for a moment, but even then he remained still and with his back turned on me.

"So let me ask you this, Layrial—if you had to choose yes or no without any consequences, but no other options for answers, which would be the first choice?

I hesitated. I didn't know what to say except that I should say what my first instinct told me to say. "No."

"Surprising, I must say."

"Why?" I asked dully.

This time his head turned slightly and I could see his right eye. "I figured you'd say yes, perhaps in hopes to strengthen your chances of living after tomorrow when I destroy the planet."

"I wish you'd stop talking about that," I replied and sat back down, pulling my knees up to my chest.

"Are you afraid to die, Layrial?"

"What the hell do you think?" I asked rudely. "Wouldn't you be?"

"I fear nothing, especially something as unlikely as death. In my case, it would take someone very gifted and very, very lucky to overpower me."

"So I figured," I said and then I buried my face in my knees. I now wished I hadn't come out here. I wished I had the courage to get up and leave this whole thing and never look back. I was such a bloody coward.

I heard him walking, and by the increasing volume of the sound I figured he was coming towards me. When I looked up, I wasn't surprised to see him standing there, but I was amazed to see his hand outstretched for me to take it. I looked at his long, grayish fingers for a long while before finally taking it. He grasped my hand lightly and pulled me to my feet. I had thought that'd be all he'd do, but when he pulled me closer so the side of my face was pressed up against his torso I became very tense.

"I vowed to leave no one alive," Cell said softly. "You must know this."

"Please stop talking about it," I asked again.

"Why have you not asked me?"

I looked up at him, a little confused at to what he was implying with such a quick change of topic. "Ask you what?"

"If I feel the sentiment of love towards you."

For some reason I let my face go back against his warm body. The thought of asking if he loved me never crossed my mind for the mere reason that I didn't think I had to wonder or ask.

"I figured I already knew the answer."

"Oh?"

"If you loved me you'd reconsider destroying me and the world I live in. Therefore, there is no reason to ask you since you've been constantly reminding me that I will die tomorrow and you had said earlier that it's a foolish emotion."

"So I did," he said dryly, but surprisingly didn't back away. I figured he'd take that chance to push me aside so he could go meditate or do whatever he did. But he didn't. Instead he stood there with his hands on my waist. I didn't know what to say or do. I even wondered if I had made him feel bad at what I just said.


	17. You Belong to Me

**Pardon me as I make my brief speech: **I guess I'll be honest with you—originally I had no intentions of writing this chapter. The idea didn't seem that great and I felt like it'd be dragging things to far. However, after finishing it I guess it's not so bad after all ;) Oh, and to give you a heads up, I know when I was editing that there was some random sentence that got pulled out of a paragraph and thrown onto a separate line or something (if that makes sense). I "undid" the action, but if you find something missing or extra added, that's it -- I apologize if its still in there and I couldn't find it. Oh, and I thought I'd respond to some of your replies:

**_Black Mors:_ **Thank you very, very much….and trust me, it's not easy. You know what you have to do? (Although I honestly haven't done this since I started the story) but you have to watch an episode where Cell or whoever does a lot of speaking and has a lot of screen time. I find that by doing so you get it into your head how the character acts and you can kinda hear him/her speaking as you write their lines. Strange, perhaps, but it works for me. Try it :)  
**_Draguna:_** That'd be pretty comical, but unfortunately it's not something Cell would do ;)  
**_Aquasage:_** Do I get that deep and intense? I guess I never realized it. Ah and yes Layrial doesn't like it when he takes off, but honestly I'll give you the hint—it has very little to do with he himself being away from her; its more the fact that she's afraid of being out in the middle of nowhere without some sort of company. And she feels that she doesn't have to ask, if you remember; she thinks he's completely cold hearted towards her. Wouldn't you think so?  
**_Thomas Drovin:_** Yes it is a shame it's soon to end…but I'm running out of ideas for arguments between them, although it is fun and amusing to make them go head to head all the time. I'm glad you're enjoying it!  
**_reindeer sausage:_** hehe, thankies! And I shall do my best not to disappoint you and the others!

* * *

**Chapter 17: **_You Belong to Me_

I wondered why I felt so safe, so…protected in his arms. One would think that his body was made of some sort of armor, which it was to a point, but until now I thought it was a thick shell or something to that extent. Yet when I stood there, the side of my head resting right beneath his chest, I heard his heart beating. Cell had a heart just like any other living creature. Although it really meant nothing towards love or whatever, I always considered it something romantic. I guess it makes me feel something strange inside, like that's the life of the person I'm with.

I don't know. Sometimes I wonder why I start going off like that during my thought process. Its utter nonsense and I needed to find a way to avoid such thoughts. Cell wasn't like every other guy. Then again…maybe that could be a good thing because he wouldn't think like the other guys I've had experiences with.

"What are you thinking?" He asked suddenly and I felt myself jump slightly.

"Oh, nothing," I said with haste and backed away from him. "It's getting cooler out, so I'm going to go to the car and get my sweatshirt."

The sun was starting to set, which made me realize just how quickly the day had gone by. I spent most of it alone again, but when he was there I felt like eternity had passed. Its strange how things like that happen. He said nothing, however, as I moved away and walked slowly towards the car. Once I got it out of the backseat and pulled it over I stopped to admire the scene before me. A perfectly square, white tournament arena, elegantly topped with four cone-shaped pillars; and standing where I had left him was Cell, an extremely powerful android with unusual powers commonly unknown to mankind. Whatever the motive this Dr. Gero truly had, he had created Cell for one purpose…the destruction of Earth. And yet I started to freely walk back to this android, my mouth forming a smile when I caught his gaze.

"Layrial, I just had a thought," he said, a sly smile forming that nearly sent a chill down my spine. "What would you say I gave you the experience of a lifetime?"

My mouth opened slightly, but nothing came out except an exhale of air. What could he possibly mean by that? I feared to ask…but I had to. "Dare I ask what sort of experience?"

"Oh an honest one, let me assure you," he said with a small chuckle. Obviously he must've gotten the clue as to what my first assumption was…I mean there are only a few 'experiences of a lifetime' someone such as he would consider. "You've only experienced flying once, and I'm nearly positive you weren't concerned with the scenery given the present company."

"Yeah, you weren't exactly my favorite person," I replied and then saw through a flicker at the corner of his mouth that the way I said it made it sound like my admiration level towards him bounced sky-high. Not really…

"Well then, how would you like a second go?"

"A what…?" I said suddenly. Oh no; there was no chance. I couldn't leave the ground without the security of the floor (meaning a plane) beneath my feet. Absolutely not; he's lucky I didn't throw up the first time.

Cell didn't seem to take this into consideration though. He must've seen my horror at his suggestion, but he still advanced towards me, his arms unlocking from the tight bind they were curled into across his chest.

"Cell, I can't…" I said.

"Layrial, it's not like I've asked you to do anything else. Do you not trust me?"

I wanted to say no so badly, but then again I kind of wanted to say yes. I didn't know what I wanted except for the fact that I didn't want to go for a flight without seatbelts, barf bags and music. "You don't understand…I'm terrified of flying."

"Come now, there's nothing to be scared of," he said harmlessly, but I was still so very uneasy that I stepped back from him. "You are a strange girl," he said finally after seeing that I wasn't going to be easy. "You have enough courage to put yourself in the presence of someone such as myself, trust me enough to stick around to chit-chat, so to speak, but you won't allow me to show you something that I'm sure you'd consider spectacular."

"Damn right," I said. "You're not the one being dragged along having no clue how the hell to fly. I can't and the thought of falling how-many hundreds of feet scares me shitless."

I could tell that he was starting to get frustrated. After all, Cell was a character that liked getting his way and got insufferable when he didn't. "If you think I'd drop you at this point then you should check your logic. I could've killed you easily only hours ago—I wouldn't spare you to delay your death by falling from the air. That's immoral."

Who the hell is he to talk about morals? Seriously, what the hell does he get out of saying stuff like that? "If you had some sort of harness attached then maybe I'd think about it, but since you don't then forget it."

Cell started approaching me again, but unlike the times in the past I didn't move away just to be backed into a spot I'd be trapped in. "I'm giving you one last chance," he said. "Either come with me or I'll give up standing around here and be on my way."

"To do what, more warm ups?"

"But of course," he replied.

He really new how to get me, the bastard. I didn't want to stay out here alone again…honestly I was just too damn scared to sit around and wonder what sort of animals could be lurking about without me knowing. "Alright, alright, I give up. I'll go."

"As I figured you would," he said and held his arm out as the invitation.

I cautiously approached him, having well-encased memories of the last time I flew with him. I clearly remember him telling me that he held my fate in his hands. I was still putting that claim on this time around too. However, I allowed him to pick me up with both arms, which surprised me because the last time he just held me with one as if I was some sort of package. Immediately I put my arms around his neck and interlocked my fingers—just in case.

"No hanging on your back, huh?" I asked when my mind thought that might be a much safer way for him not to be tempted to let go of me.

He smiled when his feet slowly left the ground. "I don't think you'd be very comfortable." I suppose that was true. He did have those huge wings and that…thing in the center of his back.

"I just ask you one favor," I started to say…but before I could finish my stomach lurched and I yelled. He was going so fast that it almost hurt my eyes to open to see just how terribly far up we were.

"And what would that be?" He asked, his head glancing down towards me. I really didn't like this.

"SLOW DOWN!"

He did so and I was able to concentrate again on a notion other than I thought my skin was going to separate from my bones. I looked down and saw nothing but water. There was no way he already made it to the ocean.

"I'm sure you're familiar with the Sea of Japan," he said casually.

I looked down. "The…no way, Cell—we couldn't have gotten over here that quickly."

"You forget that I'm capable of many things you don't realize possible, speed being one of them. However, if I went any faster you'd be crushed by the pressure."

I was speechless, but my eyes were focused on the blue water below. If he had to drop me I suppose I'd rather crash into icy waves instead of splattering on hard ground. Though the way his arms and hands were holding my legs and upper back, I felt as if I was completely secure.

Soon more land came into view and I wondered if somehow he turned around without me realizing it. But we kept going further and further, and the more mileage we covered the brighter the sun got. Instead of it setting it seemed to be going backwards.

"Cell, where are we now?" I asked him trying to find some sort of landmark that I'd recognize.

"Central Asia," he replied.

This was very hard for my mind to grasp. I had traveled to China and Russia before, but I had never made it there in less than five minutes. If this had been a few days ago I'd quickly start doubting him. However, now I knew that he wouldn't lie about it—we were truly over the grand continent.

As time passed us, the more I realized that he was taking me around the entire planet. We passed the Middle East, Germany, France, Spain, the Atlantic…it was heart stopping and I couldn't believe he was doing this. Fifteen minutes later we finished passing the United States and we were heading back over the Pacific Ocean.

I glanced at my watch—we had been gone for only forty minutes or so. The sun was no longer visible over the horizon, although daylight still lingered on into the twilight. A vibrant red sky hung over the mountain range in the distance and I had a perfect view from the tall cliff Cell landed on. He set me down, but I remained close to him—I had no desire to check out the range from where I stood to the bottom where I knew crashing waves attacked the deadly rock forms below.

"Cell, why did you do it?" I asked humbly, wondering why his attitude changed all of the sudden.

When I glanced over my shoulder towards him I saw that he stood straight as a pole with his arms crossed over his chest again. He looked at me almost as if saying he had no clue why he bothered. "I figured you'd enjoy it."

"It was nice," I said.

"I also wanted to see how much you trusted me now."

I didn't expect that one. "Yeah? And what's your prognosis?"

He smiled and looked out into the distance. "You trust me perhaps too well at this point, Layrial. Only a few moments after getting over the initial shock of being up there did you loosen your hold on me. Your reflexes wouldn't have been quick enough to grab on again if I had decided to let go."

"Were you thinking of letting go?" I countered.

"No."

I turned my gaze back onto the scenery, but not many moments after that I felt my hair being pulled away from where it was draped over my shoulder and warm fingertips grazing my neck. I shivered the moment I felt his body directly behind mine. His hands rested on my shoulders and slowly traced down the lengths of my arms. What was he thinking…what was going through his intelligent mind?

Finally I started to turn around to face him. His eyes were sharp and steady and his face unfaltering. I realized at that point that I was looking past what I saw as his physical appearance—I was glancing inside of him. He had so much anger, so much fierceness and whatever else that connected to the negative built up inside he could burst at any moment with a fiery rage. But in the back of his mind, a very small part was being occupied by another desire; perhaps a longing for companionship, friendship, love…something that could turn him away from his evil intentions.

"I want you to come with me," he said softly, his thumb brushing over my temple.

"Where?"

"Wherever I go after this," he replied in the same tone.

I shook my head before even considering it for a slight moment. "I can't. This is my home and I could never sit and watch you destroy it and then go with you so you can do the same to some place else."

He said nothing after that. I was surprised when he leaned down for our lips to meet, and the first thought that crossed my mind during the kiss was that he was trying to persuade me to change it. Although I had no intentions of going with him, I wanted to see what he'd do if I did something more than just stand there and let him do what he wanted. My hand reached up as far as it could and touched the side of his head, slowly making its way down his face, neck and shoulder. He didn't move.

"Cell, do you love me?"

He backed away then and gave me a hard look. "I cannot answer that."

"Why? You wanted me to? If you had to choose—"

"Do not try to repeat the method I used on you," he said. "It won't work."

I bit my lip and looked away. I had blown the whole thing so quickly and easily. It was still a rough topic for him to step into and obviously he had no care to trespass the border. To me it seemed that Cell had no idea what he'd do with me once he took me away from here. I expect that eventually he'd grow tired of carrying me around and dispose of me once that tolerant level reached its peak. That was all the answer I needed.


	18. Judgment Day

**The Note: **This chapter is shorter than I had originally planned, however I've decided to cut it where I did instead of dragging it on further and then cutting it off again. I had posted a note earlier requesting anyone who had access to a tape/clip/whatever of the first episode the Cell Games started to let me know what the reporter's name was, and I thank all of you for answering the note and especially to **_reindeer sausage_** for finding the name. It shall be used in the next chapter XD I really hope to have the next chapter posted by the end of the week, but its turned out to be such a crazy week I'm not sure if I'll get the chance. I guess my assumption on ending the story this week flew out the window--which I'm sure excites many of you. I'm guess two more chapters...perhaps more, but I won't know until I come to it. We'll see. If I don't post before Sunday, a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanchakah (I hope I spelt that right...), Happy Kwanza...(and anything else I'm missing) to everyone! I hope you guys have fun!

* * *

**Chapter 18:** _Judgment Day_

I had somehow managed to get comfortable one last time on the hard, cold surface of the fighting ring for the night. It was strange to think that I'd be getting my last night's sleep away from my own plush bed, under a pathetic blanket that barely covered my feet. Cell had parked himself in the exact same spot he had since I first saw him—dead center of the bloody surface. I had hoped maybe he'd come over here and sit down—an extra body could've blocked the cool night's breeze, but alas, he hadn't.

The morning of the tournament was bright and warm. Cell was standing as tall as could be, his head held high and a smile pasted over his perfectly etched face. He was ready. He was more than ready. I could tell that the blood was rushing through every vein in his body with anticipation, and the closer the time came the more excited he'd become. I sat up and cracked my back, a habit I wish I never started because I had heard there were risks of arthritis later on in life when you cracked joints or whatnot. Although I guess it didn't matter anymore, since this world might never see another dawn. It had frightened me the night before, to think that I would never look up at the sky and see the stars, or I'd never have a chance to tell my parents how much I loved them. Now, however, I came to the realization that I'd die eventually, whether it being now, tomorrow or fifty years down the road. It didn't matter anymore. I had escaped death several times in the past week—my luck had to run out at some point.

Cell looked over at me and his smile grew a little bit wider. "The day has arrived, Layrial. Are you excited?"

"Hardly," I said as I got to my feet and folded the blanket up.

He chuckled to himself and turned to me completely. "Come now, don't you believe there's a slight chance, although an extremely small one, that I might just lose?"

"It's crossed my mind," I replied. "But I doubt it. I'm over it now, though, Cell. If I die, I'll die knowing that my life wasn't all that bad compared to some."

He said nothing and looked up at the sharp blue sky. "Only a few more hours until they come. I can hardly wait any longer. Ten days was far too long and boring."

"I'm sure you were almost dying with eagerness," I said dryly and pulled out the mini box of cereal I brought along. I opened it up and started using my hand to pull out pieces and popped them into my mouth.

"The offer still holds," he said. "You can still decide your fate, Layrial."

"I have. I'm staying here. I don't want to live knowing that I'm the only surviving human and I watched the rest die." I started pouring cereal into my mouth directly from the box now. I didn't care about manners. I guess you could say I was in a bad mood.

"So be it," he answered.

"Cell, you'd end up killing me anyway," I continued. "I can't defend myself or anything. How do you expect to tolerate that for more than a few days?"

Again he grew silent. He either was tired of fighting this particular battle out or I had caught him on an issue he didn't completely think through. It didn't matter. I had finished my cereal soon enough and I started packing up my junk to bring back to the car. When I had jumped off the edge of the ring and started walking away I heard him.

"Where are you going?"

I turned and stared at him. He looked concerned for some reason—was it because he thought I was ditching him? I was tempted, but I knew I wouldn't. "No, I'm throwing this stuff in the car. I don't need it anymore."

I had tossed everything in the back seat—including the keys to the car. There was no point on keeping anything with me. It no longer had a use. When I turned around again, however, I nearly plowed right into the large green, black and gray figure of my supposed lover. "Nothing like warning me!" I snapped. Yeah, I was really grouchy.

"Layrial, I want to know what this attitude is all about," he said in a slightly demanding tone. "I understand that—"

"You understand what, Cell?" I snapped again, moving around him so I wasn't sandwiched between him and the side of the car. "You understand that I'm annoyed and aggravated because I spent my last night of life freezing my ass off and sleeping on the damn floor again? Or do you understand that I'm agitated because I didn't do half the things I wanted to accomplish in life because it's suddenly coming to an abrupt stop? Do you even care that you may understand that I'm mad at the world because I grew up not giving a damn about anything until this moment?"

Cell's head leaned back only a hair, but his eyes had gotten considerably larger with my potential releasing of anger. He might be an android and he might be powerful, but he probably realized that the wrath of a woman could be fearful. Could be, remember. Then again as soon as I took a chance to catch my breath his eyes narrowed and he gave me a look to kill.

"Your behavior is getting out of hand," he said coldly. "I merely asked a simple question."

"Oh go blow up another mountain," I threw out and I marched away.

I don't think I made it ten steps before he was in front of me again, his chest puffing out as if showing that he was the man and I was nothing but the pathetic, crybaby woman. "Don't think I'm letting you off so easily."

"What the hell are you going to do about it? Are you going to punish me in some psycho way?"

"Are you implying that I'm psychotic?"

"Maybe!"

At that point he grabbed my upper left arm and yanked me towards him. "I'd watch yourself Layrial…you may have caught my attention long enough to get you this far, but I have no conscience for you."

"Pity," I replied. "Then you don't mind if I tell you to take your bullshit and shove it up your ass."

His eyes grew wide again, but my sudden remark must've caught him off guard; I was able to pull my arm away from him and start my walk back to the ring. I had a terrible urge to look over my shoulder to see if he was creating one of those little balls of light in his hands, but I restrained myself. If he killed me, then it'd be over quicker—what's the difference?

I had actually made it to the ring before he appeared again. I turned away and so did he, the two of us acting like fifth graders after having a fight over a toy. The only difference was he could beat me up before I had a chance to kick his shin and run. But I had to ask…I was in this rebellious mood now and the urge to say something more to him was overwhelming. I guess I was set on pissing him off beyond anything else.

"What, did I hurt your feelings? Or more like, bruise your ego?"

"I'm refraining from speaking to the likes of you."

"Oh, I'm so sad now," I said. Then I stopped and sat down. I was acting like a child. This wasn't how I wanted it to go; but he had gotten me so mad I lost sight of everything else. I glanced over my shoulder to see he remained constant in his posture.

I sighed and let my head fall as far as it would go. I was such an idiot. Why did I get like this? This is how I messed up every damn relationship—friend or otherwise—I was ever in; not that it mattered anymore, but I didn't want to keep going like this. For once, I was going to swallow my pride and try to mend things before it was too late.

"Cell?" I had said meekly after approaching him. My hand reached up to touch his wing again, but it stopped in midair the moment he spoke.

"Do not bother."

"Cell…look, I'm sorry for the way I acted. It was childish."

"It was repulsive."

"Yes," I agreed. "Please…don't be cross with me."

"Oh I'm not cross with you," he assured me. "You just made me realize that I was extremely irrational for thinking of you as more than just another insufficient human. I should've killed you before things got out of hand."

"Well, here's your chance again," I said softly. "But please…do it so I can see your face while I die."

Cell turned his head, his magenta eyes meeting my face softly. "No, Layrial, I will not."

"It's the least I deserve after I just acted like that towards you," I started. I don't know why I felt the need to start begging for him to kill me—he was letting me off the hook for what I said.

"Do not make me repeat myself," he said sternly. "I will not kill you. And I would never look directly at _you_ while doing so. I refuse."

I said nothing more. Instead I let my actions speak; I moved around and put my arms around his slender waist and pressed my face against his torso. I waited several moments before I finally felt his hands rest on my shoulder blades. The next thing I knew I was being pulled away while his fingers ran through my hair.

"I will say this once and only once, Layrial," he started in a husky voice. "You have done something to me that I still don't completely understand. And while I will not go back on Dr. Gero's wishes, I will say this—you have made the time waiting for this tournament amusing and pleasurable…for more reasons than one."

With that Cell stepped away and flexed his wings. I knew he was leaving for another one of his warm up sessions. His eyes gleamed as I stared back at him; a moment later he was up and gone. I didn't watch him disappear into the distance this time. Instead I sat in the center of the ring with my legs folded Indian-style. My heart beat at a faster-than-normal pace and the only thing I could think of was what he had just said.


	19. Heroes of Earth

**Disclaimer and Words from the Author: **First of all, this needs to be said: I own nothing except the plot, Layrial, and a few select other things. This chapter contains actual words spoken by DBZ characters in the episodes that I'm too lazy to list here. Now, for my dear readers and reviewers, take note that first—there are a lot of things missing from what happened in the series, for two reasons: One, I'm lazy and two, I don't feel the need to incorporate everything that happened. Lets see...note that if there are really stupid typos I didn't catch during editing I do apologize for it--my parents gave me a new wireless keyboard for Christmas and I'll have to say that its very odd to use and I'm finding that the backspace key is my personal favorite button to use...heh. Oh, and I hope the length of this chapter makes up for the last. I'm also dreadfully sorry it's taken me longer than I even anticipated writing this. Christmas was busy and I was having trouble getting the inspiration worked up to finish this story off. Now I know the website here will be shutting down posts and such for Dec. 30th, so obviously I won't be posting tomorrow. Whether I'm able to get chapter 20 finished and posted tonight or this weekend is another story—I desperately need to clean my room, so that's what I'm off to do now. Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 19: **_Heroes of Earth_

Cell hadn't been gone as long as I thought he would've been. When I saw him returning I took it upon myself to move away from the center of the arena and back to my normal corner. He said nothing as he landed, but I could tell that his thrill level was rising steadily. Cell was ready for what was to come and he probably felt as if he couldn't wait a moment longer.

To know that I was now stuck between choosing the killer yet my personal savior versus the good people on Earth was something my mind wasn't willing to pick apart. Yes, Cell had killed hundreds if not thousands of people and was preparing himself for finishing off what remained of the human population, not to mention any other living organism that existed on this planet. However, he had been the one to save me in the desert. Several times, actually. He brought me to Nikki Town where I was able to find food, and although it was cruel to bring me to that particular town and keep me as a prisoner, he didn't have to do it. Also, he saved me after I passed out when I tried to walk away. I could've died. I could be watching all of this from some comfy seat in the clouds for all I knew.

"Its time," he said suddenly and I looked up at him. His eyes were menacing, his mouth curved into a devilish smile. Cell was doing all he could to keep himself still, at least that's what I figured from where I sat.

His attention turned to me then and I gave a courteous nod. "Will you wish me luck, Layrial?"

I didn't know how to respond to that. It was almost as if he was daring me pick sides to challenge my conscience. If I said no he could've been disappointed and may not give a damn about what happened to me, which was still a big hope in my mind that he'd decide to spare the Earth because of me. Then again, if I said yes I'd be betraying humanity. Damn, I hated him.

"I don't know," is what I came out with. "What do you want me to say?"

"Oh, I was just curious to see if you'd say yes to me," he replied. "I didn't get my hopes up, if that's what you think." He had suddenly become defensive and I chose not to go into it. I didn't feel like having a fight right before the end of the world began.

Yet it seemed that's exactly what he wanted to do, probably for the mere reason to keep himself occupied while he waited for the first victim to arrive. I don't know what he was getting out of besides enjoyment of making my mind suffer, but I will say that I just wanted to tell him to shut the hole in his face and leave me be with my thoughts.

"Layrial, you are about to witness he biggest battle of all time," he stated. "You should be excited."

"Will it hurt your ego if I say I'm not?"

"It might just that," he replied with a smirk. He walked over to me and looked down with an intimidating smile. "You've tied yourself to me, Layrial. What will you say when this is all over?"

"I don't know," I said quickly. "But I can say I'm not tied to you."

"Oh I think you are."

"We're not a couple, Cell. It's just…"

"Just a what?" He pushed, that grin still spread clear across his pale face.

"…a fling."

"If that's what you want to call it, then by all means." I could tell right then and there that nothing I said would tamper with his mood. He was way too confident to be corrupted by an ill tempered disposition.

When Cell's hand reached out to me I took it without hesitation. I guess that meant that I was comfortable with him now and there was no point to present fear in his presence. To be frank, there wasn't a point to fear. I was pulled to my feet and immediately his arm embraced me around my waist, his other hand venturing up to push a tuff of my hair behind my ear. "This could be our last moment together, dearest Layrial."

_Yeah, and it's because you're going to kill me,_ I thought regrettably. It would've been so much nicer to pretend nothing was going to happen like the rest of the world was doing right about now.

"What if you're the one to die?" I asked without thinking.

"I highly doubt that will be the case," he said softly. His mouth came down and brushed against my left ear; I felt a chill run down my spin when his warm breath blew past my earlobe. "Will you still not consider my off?"

"I will not be the only human alive," I said. "Please stop acting like this."

I wanted to push him away so badly. He was almost blinded and changed by the prospect of his to-be victory. The way he was touching me made my heart race and my brain want to send signals to my vocal chords to scream and my arms to push him away. But I didn't. I stood still and allowed him to do what he wanted. His lips trailed down my jaw and finally our mouths met. And the one thing that my mind came up with wasn't what I thought it would—what would anyone say if they found this scene?

When Cell moved away a few inches, my eyes dove into his deep magenta hues. What was he thinking that made him look so calm and such? Did I even want to know? No, I didn't….

"I wish I didn't have to say that that will be the last time we will be in each other's embrace, but that was your choice."

"Stop," I said quietly and turned my gaze to the desert around us.

"I realize we've been down this road before, Layrial, but I want to see if it's changed since the last encounter," he said. "Do you love me?"

"No," I said without hesitation. "I could never love you…."

Cell removed himself from my arms which I hadn't noticed encircled around his torso. "Well then, at least we still agree on something."

My head shot back up to look at him with a needy expression. I thought…well…. No, it was stupid. How could I let such a possibility flood my senses? Then again, if I had been a little more honest with him, maybe he would have been with me as well.

"I'd find a spot to place yourself, my dear," Cell said as he walked away. "There is a van approaching. You don't want people to start to wonder what's been taking place here." I made no reply as I backed away and stepped off the ring to sit down on the grass that bordered the arena.

At first I thought he might've been imagining the fact that someone was already heading out here because I saw absolutely nothing. I should know by now that it's not worth doubting him because he usually proves me wrong. In the distance I saw a cloud of dust and moments later a white van was indeed approaching.

ZZTV had sent out their crew to broadcast the tournament. I wasn't surprised. They usually did send out their people to cover anything that could make them say that had been brave enough to do it. And I highly doubted with Sazuke's situation at WMTV that I'd be seeing any of my old co-workers that had yet to quit.

The van halted a distance away and I could see two people emerge and skitter across the rocky terrain. They disappeared for a moment, but I saw that Cell's eyes kept track of where they were going. He looked away once they had peered over the top of a large rock they had apparently climbed to keep themselves at a safe distance. I couldn't tell who it was from where I sat, but I'm sure I'd know them the moment they found the nerve to get closer…the cowards.

"And yet another unexpected vehicle approaches," Cell said rather quietly, but probably only made the announcement for my benefit. I turned and looked in the direction he did and saw a rather long, shiny black limousine driving up. I knew who this was…it could only belong to one person stupid enough to think they could stand a small chance against Cell.

My assumptions were correct. The door of the limo opened and out stepped a tall, husky man wearing the traditional martial arts garb and a white cape. His hair seemed to be puffier than I remembered, but I knew that Hercule was here to prove himself to the world once again. I loathed that man…it made me sick just to look at him.

Hercule walked steadily to the ring, not giving a care that his limo made a hasty retreat behind him. Once at the ring side he stopped, raised a hand and gave Cell a thumb's down. "You're going down!"

I wanted to just take a nap. It wasn't worth my time to see this idiot act so ridiculously in front of a camera just to make people think he was the savior of everything. I especially wanted do just that when he motioned for the cameraman and reporter to get closer so he could gloat more.

To my even greater disgust, I discovered the man that hurried forward was none other than Gerald Firecracker, idiotic superstar of ZZTV. I couldn't stand that man—his attitude and appearance made me want to gag. His hair was combed flat, his glasses overpowered his thin face and he shaved his moustache so thin I wondered why he kept it. The young man holding the camera was Tom Mee, who I had met once before and he seemed nice enough. Actually, he shared my opinion for Gerald so that automatically won him bonus points.

I let my eyes focus back on Cell, who appeared not to give a damn about what was taking place. Obviously these weren't the people he was interested in seeing. I wondered just how much longer it would before that other guy—Goku—made his grand appearance.

"I'm gonna spank you Cell!" I heard suddenly and I alerted my attention back on Hercule. He was standing there making cheap calls and gestures at Cell as if to intimidate him. While he was doing so, though, Gerald looked around and spotted me. He snickered and walked over, nudging Tom to follow.

"I believe I've met you before," he said in a high-pitched voice that was so fake I wanted to puke. "Why are you out here all by yourself?"

"None of your business," I said back. "I suggest you keep an eye on dumbbell over there instead of wasting your time figuring me out."

Tom moved away to do just that, but Gerald covered his microphone. "Just make sure you keep your nose out of my broadcast—although it seems your co-workers already deserted you on this assignment."

I stuck my tongue out at his retreating form. He appeared alongside Hercule and egged him on. This was just too sick for me to want to witness. I had half a mind to get up and leave. If Cell were to now ask me who I would want to win, I'd automatically say him.

I had spent the next ten minutes blocking out the babble of Hercule and Gerald, letting my thoughts wonder about nothing and my eyes take in the scenery I became very familiar with. My trance was broken though when the noise in the background became suddenly silent and everyone's attention turned to the sky. A flash of light streaked across the blue sky and then form into a man that landed gently on the rocky ground next to the ring. My eyes became a little wider as I took this guy in—short, yet buff to extreme measures with hair that stood straight up over a stern, angry-looking face. Gerald ran over to him, but I heard him being quickly denied. I liked the new stranger—he too was already annoyed with this crap.

Not even a minute later another figure landed, but Cell seemed more amused by this arrival than he was with the first. This guy was extremely tall, perhaps more so than Cell, and wore strange clothes topped with an orange Mohawk.

"Android Sixteen, you're still alive and kicking! And with beautiful repairs, no less," Cell said. Apparently this guy was also an android, as I understood, and something must've happened to him before. I dared to think Cell blew him up.

Again, more chants and stuff came flying out of Hercule's mouth, but I ignored it all. My brain only came back to reality when I saw no one or two, but nearly half-a-dozen streaks of light in the sky. With the same smile plastered across Cell's face, I knew this had to be the bunch he was waiting for.

And so it was. Centered amongst the group was the same man I had met days before, hair as blonde as ever and disposition calm and unyielding to his opponent. A young boy with a similar appearance stood next to him and several others around them, including this drop-dead gorgeous guy with lavender hair….and a tall oddly dressed, green fellow with a turban. I didn't ask.

"Welcome, welcome everyone!" Cell said cheerfully. His attention was clearly on the recent arrivals, who talked amongst themselves.

Apparently Hercule and his little friends didn't like the fact that the attention wasn't on _the World Champion_ because Gerald suddenly broke out into the infamous "Hercule Rules!" chant. I was more than happy to see the others weren't buying it.

"I'm not going to wait around for you to hurt innocent bystanders, Cell," Hercule started. "I'm going to give you one last chance to back down before I pound your face!"

The brute reached inside his shirt and pulled out a small capsule that, once activated, turned into a blue duffle bag. Everyone, including Cell, watched in mild amusement to see what the heck this guy was doing. Gerald was going on about Hercule preparing himself, but I tried my best to tune him out. Although I suppose he was right, because Hercule pulled out tiles and stacked them to nearly half his height. I wondered what the heck he thought he'd be accomplishing, but I guess he thought he could scare Cell by smashing all of them into rubble.

Cell remained still. In fact, his eyes weren't even on Hercule—they were peering over his shoulder to the group behind him. Goku must be the one he wanted to meet in battle, not even anyone else.

Hercule snorted and jumped in front of Cell. "Alright buster lets get this started! Hawww!"

Cell unfolded his arms as Hercule jumped up and positioned his body into a kicking stance. He lunged forward, his foot raised, and made the attempt to kick Cell's head. The android didn't even flinch. He stood still as Hercule delivered punch after punch, kick after kick, and his mouth throwing out obscene cracks every few seconds.

"And now for my finish!" He yelled out loud enough for the next city over to hear.

As quickly as it had started it had ended. Cell, standing perfectly straight and still, flung out his arm like a stick and Hercule was gone. I looked in the direction behind the android where everyone else had turned to and saw Hercule picking himself up in the distance. I wanted to burst out laughing, but that would've destroyed the peaceful silence of Gerald. It was wonderful. Cell had barely done anything to get the idiot out of the ring. Pathetic!

"Let's get the tournament underway," Cell said. "Will it be Goku to start things off?"

"Let's do it," Goku replied as he stepped up onto the platform. He walked calmly across the arena and stopped maybe ten feet from where Cell was. From where I sat, Goku was facing me and Cell's back was all I saw of him. I couldn't tell what was on his face, but I'm sure it was glee and utter excitement. For a split second, though, I caught Goku's gaze. If I saw right, he gave me a very slight nod, as if to say he was glad to see I was ok. I guess he didn't know that I had ventured away from here and returned on my own free will. Why the hell did I do that anyway?

During this, though, Hercule had made his way back to the party. He, Gerald and Tom had huddled together on the opposite side of the ring where I sat, so I couldn't really hear what was being said. Tom kept his camera on the two opponents that were about to start, but Gerald was content with interviewing the nerd-ball.

"As I'm sure you know by now," Cell said, "I've been waiting for this. Killing the helpless quickly grows old. I look to you for amusement while I test my body."

I stared at Cell's tall form and the glossy black wings that sprouted from his shoulders. He was so damn arrogant that it was almost a surprise to think that he actually figured he couldn't be beaten. I mean, look at the people that turned out to fight him! They all look like they live in a gym and spend their whole lives working out. Cell was one against many…how could he think he wouldn't eventually get tired?

"I hear you're designed to use all of our techniques against us," Goku said in reply to Cell's comment.

"Perfection."

Yeah; ultimate perfection. This was going to be a long end of my life…

* * *

**One last note: **I hope you guys aren't disappointed that I cut out Coroni and Pieroshki (or whatever his name is) and that cutsie girl, but I honestly have no need for their stupidity and their appearance. Besides, I have made the decision that this story _will_ end with 21 chapters, for reasons I'll disclose later. So basically, adding them in would be a waste and would take away from what I want to get out in the final two chapters. Also, I'm giving you a heads up—don't be surprised when I cut out a lot of fighting sequences of the battles to take place. Until we meet again, my friends…. 


	20. Divided

**A word from Moi: **I was going to post both chapters at the same time and not leave you guys hanging for a day or so, but I'm tired of going through this chapter. It's as done as its going to get. The last chapter is still debatable at this point, so bare with me. I'm trying to get the story told as I think it should be, but disappoint you guys at the same time ;) Anyway, again, I've borrowed lines from the episode(s) and I do not own anything except Layrial at this point. Also, all the fighting sequences are not there, but I picked through what I thought was cool and/or useful. Oh and here's some useless trivia—the chapter title has been changed at least a dozen times, but I ended up back with the original. I'm still not thrilled with it though ;)

* * *

**Chapter 20:** _Divided_

The air was silent and full of uncertainty. The group of men and the one boy adjacent to where I sat looked on steadily with an air about them that said they could only hope this Goku guy was able to finish Cell off before they had to have their turn. Well, perhaps not all of them; the one that had arrived first, the one with the stand-up hair style seemed anxious. He actually looked as if he wanted to get out there and show everyone what he was made of.

Hercule and Gerald and poor Tom were in their own little world across from me. I pitied them. If they actually had a clue as to what was going to happen in a mere few hours then they wouldn't be joking around like they were at that moment. Then again, I didn't see much concern on Goku's face. He seemed calm, as if this was something he did for amusement. Whatever the case, he stood prepared to fight as Cell flexed his hands.

"Ding."

Cell gave the signal and Goku was off. He _flew_ straight at Cell, his arm outstretched and ready for the punch. Cell blocked it easily. And so they were off. Punches dashed, kicks smashed and they moved so quickly that I couldn't even keep track as to what was going on. The friends of Goku seemed to understand everything; I, on the other hand, fell into the same, clueless category my human counterparts did, having no idea what the hell was going on and what to expect next.

Out of nowhere they appeared some fifty feet above the arena, hands seemingly interlocked as they challenged their strength against the other. Cell leaned forward to overpower the blonde man, but Goku kicked Cell higher than they hovered at that point. Then they disappeared once again.

My eyes were starting to get sore from searching and a small kink in my neck formed from holding it back so I could look up. Thankfully, they appeared on the surface of the ring again, arms and legs flying everywhere in a fearful battle. Then, as suddenly as it had all started, they had paused and stood only a few feet apart, a smile on each of their faces.

"Nice work Goku," Cell comment, his voice not giving an ounce of a clue that he was tired in the least.

"You're not so bad yourself," the other replied as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, but before either could inhale again they were locked in a second round of defensive and offensive movements. For the most part they were remaining on the ground….

I take that back; they were everywhere. I wondered how it was possible to bend the rules where the players could leave the stadium all together and still not be disqualified. Then again, this was Cell we were talking about—he would probably make up the rules as they went along.

They were now both in the middle of the ring, but before I knew it Goku was gone and Cell stood alone. I missed the part on what had happened to him, but Cell looked straight ahead—in my direction as a matter of fact. Though, I knew he wasn't paying the slightest attention to me. His eyes were focused on something else, frozen and unblinking.

Out of nowhere Cell's arms and hands moved around as if blocking invisible attacks. It would appear that he had gone crazy with the heat, but Goku must have been moving so fast that someone like me couldn't see him swishing around even with the bright orange outfit he was wearing. Now that was something else.

Cell kicked out and suddenly Goku appeared skidding across the arena. I don't know where he came from, but it was actually pretty nifty. I'll admit I was getting a kick out of this. I suppose it wasn't a bad way to be spending the last hours of your life. But those thoughts that trailed through my head were washed over with the prospect of the fight before me. Goku flew across towards Cell who held up his arms in defense. However, Cell's guard was let lose when Goku seemed to magically disappear…and then reappear to start pushing Cell to the edge.

I inhaled quickly and sat up straight. Cell was being pushed to the end! And when Goku jumped up and came around with a kick, I could have sworn it was over. I should've known better though; Cell stopped himself in midair, not even his outstretched wings having a chance of touching the dirt ground. He folded his arms and smiled broadly as he rose to a full stance.

"Sorry," he said dramatically, "but did you think you had defeated me?"

"I won't fall for you cheap pranks," Goku replied. "I knew all along that it wouldn't be that easy to take you out, Cell."

"I thought it'd be appropriate to play a little joke since you aren't fighting me seriously," the android replied.

He…wasn't….what! There was no way in Heaven or Hell that they were just playing around. The way they were moving and hitting each other…surely they had to be doing something that required effort! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It couldn't be possible…

"Hey, you're holding back as well," Goku said and I strained my ears to follow their conversation.

"Little by little I shall reveal to you the perfect power that lies within me," Cell said assured. They were silent for a moment, but Cell continued further. "You seem to be enjoying yourself very much. I'm not surprised; as a Saiyan fighting is all you live for."

"Are you saying you're any different?" Goku asked.

Cell chuckled and started to walk forward. "Well it depends on who I'm fighting…"

I didn't know what a Saiyan was—maybe some sort of tribe, which would explain the wild hairstyles these guys had, but I knew that he was enjoying himself more-so than the average man. I couldn't tell you who was getting a bigger thrill out this—Cell or Goku. They seemed to be equally matched, but I don't think either of them cared. They were once again everywhere the eyes could and couldn't see and it was starting to get tiring. Across from me Hercule and Gerald seemed to be in the same boat as I was, and Tom just kept the camera focused on the arena instead of tossing it all around. I wasn't much into that because whoever was watching this on T.V. would see me sitting there like a total loser.

At one point both fighters had stood still, both yelling out loud and clenching their fists as the air around them swirled like a tornado and a bright glow surrounded their entire body. I had never seen Cell do this before, so whatever was happening was new to me.

They were now in the clear and I watched as they appeared to be taking turns on hitting each other. It looked as if it was nothing but a game to both of them, which boggled my mind. Here they were fighting, supposedly determining the fate of the planet, and they're taking turns inflicting pain! Cell kicked Goku, but Goku fell only to swing his body around and kick down Cell. The android did a back handspring and shot out a beam of light which was tossed away like it was a soccer ball.

What scared me, though, was when they kept jumping from one point to another, disappearing and reappearing for only a split second. It was when they appeared literally on the edge of the right in front of me that I realized that they just weren't performing normal martial arts. I couldn't pinpoint what it was, but I could feel some sort of force driving from them and as soon as they left it had disappeared. For that short moment my head felt like it was being squeezed and I couldn't remember to breath. I didn't know what to make of it…Strange….

Before long they were standing still in the center of the arena. Cell had his back to his opponent, who seemed a bit satisfied at his performance, but without a reason that I knew of Cell started to laugh openly. It was humorous yet boastful. He turned around, his arms crisscrossing and rising to his face. "I have a surprise for you," I barely heard him say.

Goku did look a little surprised…but not half as surprised as I was when I saw Cell actually _separate_ himself into _four_ identical clones. They all stood proudly, each laughing and smiling at Goku.

"This won't work on me," Goku replied, but Cell didn't seem to notice. All four of him attacked at once and soon the five figures darted off and into the air, fighting all at once.

My mind was so mixed up and confused I wanted to cry. I had no idea what was going on or if I was just dreaming. I had seen Cell blow up a mountain with some sort of light in his hands; I had flown with him and I had seen his strength…but never could I even imagine in my wildest dreams that stuff like this were even possible. Seeing all four Cells fall back down to Earth and pile up gave me a scare, but to see them all merge into one like someone waved a magic wand was too much. I wanted to go home now, thanks.

Cell got to his feet and smiled. "Good work, Goku. Perhaps you are a fighter worthy enough to fight me."

"Oh boy…"

I seconded that statement, Goku…Cell was starting to become a little too much. Although, seeing him perform like this was making my heart race. Was it because I…had that 'fling' with him? Or was it because it was just heart-stopping to see such ability displayed before my eyes? I wasn't about to sit and figure it out while they…played….

Now, though, they were starting to get serious in my book. The little balls of light started to fire and shoot towards the other. I sat in a position that would allow me to jump to my feet as quickly as I could in case one started heading towards me. Although, I think they were pretty much aware of what they were doing. Nothing came remotely close to hitting us. And besides, they were so far up in the air that I figured by the time something did start down here it would dissolve or…

"Hey! Get away from the ring! NOW!"

I had barely heard it, but obviously it didn't sink in. I looked up and saw Cell doing some sort of thing with his hands that formed the largest ball of light I had ever seen. The others had started to move away either by foot or flight. I got to my feet, but that was all I managed to do. The light became brighter to the point I couldn't see anything else around me. What the hell was going on?

Before I had a chance to realize what had happened, I felt a strong arm wrap around me and tug me away. I missed the parts between feeling my ribs being pushed together and my head hitting the ground. I opened my eyes to see myself on the ground and a pair of white boots regaining their footing next to my face. My eyes darted up and to my (very pleasant) surprise I saw the lavender haired hunk standing over me.

"Are you okay?"

I wasn't able to find my voice, but I was able to give a slight nod. He was so damn cute!

"You need to be more alert," he told me and then flew off to join his friends.

I got to my feet and looked around. I wasn't too far from were Hercule, Gerald and Tom stood, but far enough to keep their yapping out of my hearing range. What caught my interest, though, was the massive crater ahead of me and the fact that the perfectly structured white arena was no more.

I looked around to find where Cell had gone off to. He stood with Goku several yards ahead of me. I had no idea what was being said now and I had a terrible urge to move closer. Cell and blondie had started once again and I held my breath for they seemed to be more into it. I decided to take my chances and scoot myself closer. There were several rocks that I could use as shields, so running from place to place couldn't do much harm. Unfortunately I had barely made ten steps before the ground shook. I stumbled forward and broke my fall with my arms. That hurt so damn much I wanted to go slap them for making it happen. Both my elbows were now scratched enough to draw blood and I could see the dirt smeared all over the wound. I continued, though, and made it to the spot I had picked out.

I could now tell that Cell wouldn't be walking way from this without a scratch. A clear line of purple blood trickled down the side of his face, but it didn't seem to be bad enough to worry about. I should've known that his blood wouldn't be red, though. Goku, on the other hand, did have red blood like I expected and he too had several scrapes and cuts that proved it. There were both glowing yellow and I didn't know what to expect anymore. They had jumped apart, both breathing heavily, but out of nowhere Goku stepped back and the glow around him disappeared. I heard several gasps from the spectators standing on the ledge above me.

"I see that you've grown tired, Goku," Cell said with a grin, although he was still panting.

"Not much more than you have," he replied, but his smile is what was throwing me off. "I didn't know when I came out here today if I had what it would take to beat you Cell, but now I know that I don't. So….I give up."

I was completely shocked. This was the same guy that appeared out of nowhere and threatened Cell to let me go. He seemed to be the one person Cell was so damn eager to fight and he's backing out that easily? Well, I mean he was getting his butt kicked, but it seemed to me that he was doing just as much damage to his enemy! What gives!

"You can't be serious," Cell said totally stunned. "You can't just expect to give up and walk away."

"Sure I can," Goku said. "You beat me fair and square."

"If you're not going to fight me and if no one else steps up then I'll reduce this planet to rubble!"

Goku shook his head. "Not so fast, Cell. There is one other person that you need to fight, and he's a lot stronger than I am."

"You can't honestly be thinking to go through with this," Cell said. "You don't possibly think that one of them—" he nudged his head to the men on the ledge—"has what it takes to defeat me."

Goku nodded and then slowly rose to where his comrades stood waiting. I craned my neck to see what was going on, but they weren't standing close enough to the edge for me to get a good look. All I saw from where I sat was Cell looking on in total shock, yet utter frustration. For a moment his eyes swept down to me, but it wasn't long enough for me to do anything towards him. His face was melted into disgust and it was clear that he wasn't satisfied with what Goku had done.

Gerald's voice rang in my ears just then. I looked around and saw that the trio had moved closer as well, obviously figuring if I was safe then they would be too. And when I listened in on his broadcast, I understood what was going on. "It appears that our blonde-haired hero has given up and is sending a boy to fight Cell! What does he expect to accomplish by such an act?"

It was true; Goku had sent what looked like the younger version of himself down to face the deadly android. Cell seemed stunned and un-amused. The boy looked scared and shaky, but tried hard to cover it up.

"So, child, you're going to take over what your father couldn't finish," Cell said and then began to laugh. "If that's the way he wants to play it out, then so be it. Most sons aren't willing to die fighting their father's battles, you know. Your devotion is most admirable."

"Hey Cell!" Everyone glanced up to where Goku stood on the edge of the cliff. "Here! It's a Senzu bean—eat it!"

Cell caught what was tossed to him and popped it in his mouth. Whatever it was (although I believe it was the same thing Cell had given me that time when he broke my arm) made Cell yell out in rage and a massive purple light emitted from his body like it had before. "Wonderful! Now let's get started…"


	21. Providence

**The Final Word:** Well, here it is folks—the final chapter. A HUGE thanks to my darling friend **AVC**, who helped this chapter along and helped me make it work. I had told you before why I was so set on having 21 chapters when I learned it would pass the 15 mark (which I'm really surprised it did!). It may seem strange, but I though it was cool and barely significant; 21 chapters for a fanfic written on Cell, Android 21. Neat, eh? So this chapter is pretty long compared to others in the past for that reason. hehe. I also know that I'll be doing stuff today and be like omg I didn't put that in!

Anyway, again, I've pulled out things from episodes that do not belong to me in any way. Also, it's very choppy concerning the sequences you may remember from the show. I hate Gohan so I didn't want him to have the glory of owning a big portion of this chapter. I wrote what I thought was necessary for the plot. The rest of what I want to say will be at the end so I don't blurt out and ruin anything before you read it.

But I will reply to those who posted a review to chapter 20 (before I posted this chapter)

**Aquasage: **Thank you kindly! I figured that's what I could get away with since everyone who is reading this fic has seen the Cell Games at least twice or so and is familiar with what goes on. And I totally agree with you. Goku is way to trusting and should have known that the tournament wasn't just a game, but a fight for survival. What the hell he was thinking by throwing Cell a damn bean was beyond me. Yamcha had it right—with Cell, who really cared about being fair? -snicker- I hope you had a good New Year as well, my friend :)

**Draguna: **It would've been amusing to see if Cell would've been jealous, but I think at that point Cell would be more concerned on fighting than anything else. If anything he might've thought that Layrial being with the Z Fighters was a little more safer for her, but he had warned her about being there, so his feelings towards her at that point was that it was her own fault if anything happened ;) But your review did remind me of something I completely forgot to leave out, so I had to go back to it this morning and add it in. Hopefully you'll notice what that is, but I don't want to say it here as to not ruin it for anyone ;)

**Black Mors:** Ah yes…Gohan. I've _always_ hated that child since day one. He's always been a damn crybaby, I hated that damn hat he wore when he was like 5, and the number one reason…he killed Cell. It was his own fault it had to go as far as it did, so I don't feel bad for him in the least. I blame him for Goku's death at the end of that saga. And yeah….like I said to aquasage….Goku is dumb. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your lovely compliments. It means a lot and I'm glad to hear that it's been that good for you. What shall everyone do when you finish the last paragraph? What the heck am I going to do now? lol

**Reindeer sausage:** Here it is…Thank you very much :) I've been holding off getting to this chapter not only because it was confusing to write and I had to keep going back to it for adjustments, but I'll say that I'm going to miss it and all my reviews from you guys.

Much love!

* * *

**Chapter 21:** _Providence_

The boy stood his ground as Cell approached with the squeaky footing I had become so familiar with. I don't know what was going through either of their heads, but I wanted to know what sort of lunatic would send his son to fight such a…yes, I'll say it—monster. If Goku was crazy in the head, that would explain it; but maybe there was something that I had missed along the way that would have filled me in on just why a boy no more than ten-years-old, I guessed, would be any match for such a powerful person, err…android.

I watched as the kid yelled out like the Cell and Goku had earlier, the same glow surrounding him. I wish I knew what the hell that meant. I'd have to remember to ask before this all ended. Anyway, I found my hands balled up into tight fists, obviously my way of sitting on the edge of a seat I wasn't sitting on since I was crouched next to a rock in the middle of the desert.

Cell had launched his attack. The boy flew up and Cell followed; the boy flew down and Cell shot out those little light balls; Cell kicked and swung a fist and the boy deflected them. He was stronger than I thought. Maybe he was able to give Cell a run for his money…but Cell was so much bigger it was hard to make any considerations in the kid's favor.

And then I saw that I had jumped the gun—Cell started to beat down the kid so hard I thought he was breaking every bone in his little body. He kicked him, tossed him and even landed a foot against the side of the kid's head. I gasped and covered my mouth with a sweaty hand; I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Cell was beating this kid into the ground! Had he absolutely no remorse whatsoever? _No Layrial, this is Cell you're talking about._ Oh yeah…that's right.

The kid stood up and wiped his mouth as Cell landed and took a few steps forward. "Well, Gohan, I see you're ready for round two."

"I'm ready whenever you are you creep," this kid, whose name was apparently Gohan, said. I actually gave the kid a silent cheer for verbally standing up to Cell. God only knew I had done it enough.

They started again…and it continued the way it had the first time. The kid was jumping around and blocking Cell's attacks, but finally Cell had done the inevitable and took control. But what startled me was the fact that he hit the boy hard enough that he went sailing into a nearby mountain, which ultimately collapsed on him. I jumped and up looked on, my eyes wide and my heart pounding at the sight of a murder of a young boy. Cell…how could you…?

"That was almost too easy," I heard Cell say to himself. "Then again, it always is." He smiled and turned his attention to the group above me. "Well Goku, it seems I have won. Now, are you going to fight me or not?"

"Nope! Take a look behind you!" Goku called out.

Cell did so and so did I and everyone else. The rubble burst out in all directions and from beneath the cloud of dust came the kid, clothes torn and blood smeared on his face, but he glowed, giving him a radiance that said he wasn't finished just yet.

"I see that you have more nerve than I gave you credit for," Cell said to him once the rejoined the party.

"You don't have to do this," the kid said. "This fighting—it's meaningless."

Cell laughed loudly. "Do honestly think I'll stop my Cell Games because _you_ think they're meaningless? Well think again! If you don't fight me here today I'll destroy the Earth! Now how's that for meaning?

"You don't get it…."

I listened very carefully, as did Cell I think, to what this kid was saying. With the wind stirring it was hard for me to catch everything, but basically the kid had a hidden power that could be devastating if awakened? Whatever that meant…

Cell chuckled. "An interesting story; but it didn't work. Not in the way you expected, that is. In fact, you've given me something to work for. I want to see this power of yours for myself!" At that point he pounced and unleashed an array of unmerciful attacks that was making the kid scream out in pain. Both of my hands were over my mouth now and I was tempted to just cover my eyes until I could be certain it was over.

"Do you hear me? I want you to be furious!" Cell kicked out, but the kid fought back and hit Cell down. Cell smiled and stood up, his thumb wiping away a small trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Well then, I might just get through to you yet."

He raised his hand and pointed a pale gray finger. I couldn't believe what he started to do—it was like a laser gun built into his finger or something because that's exactly what it looked like shooting out at the kid. The boy jumped around and dodged them, but he had landed right in front of me. I stood up, but Cell didn't seem to take any notice. He shot out one more…

I landed on the ground very hard and I could feel the wind being knocked out of me after I jumped away. I looked over my shoulder to see Cell staring at me sternly, but neither he nor anyone else said anything about me almost dying. How I felt the love at that moment…

It didn't seem to phase Cell at all. He just continued his attempts to get the kid angry. This time he locked the boy in a strong bear-hug that looked like it was crushing every bone in the poor thing's body.

Again, Cell laughed. "Think about it—what a wretched way to die! And there's nothing no one can do about it; except for you, Gohan. So get angry! It makes you mad that you're in pain."

I wanted to yell out at Cell to let him go. It was too much for me to take. I couldn't bear to watch this any longer! And when I was just about to do so, Cell dropped him.

"Stubborn child," Cell said. "You refuse to fight back no matter how much pain is inflicted upon you. Perhaps you'll react better to the pain of your friends."

I watched in horror as Cell darted up into the air and went up to the cliff. He was going to attack all of them at once, wasn't he? How low could that stupid, idiotic, crazy android go?

To my surprise, though, he returned with only a small bag in his hands. I didn't know what was in it, but I didn't care. Cell was up to something and I'd be lying if I didn't say I was scared shitless. There was nothing else I wanted at this moment but to go home and pretend it was already all over. I knew Cell was evil, I knew I was stupid for putting myself through this, but I had never thought he could or even would go this far.

"Wait…what are you going to do?"

"Whatever it takes to make you angry!" Cell yelled.

"No! Please, don't do this! If my powers are unleashed I won't be able to stop it. I'll kill you."

"Oh I assure you that once I've had my fill I'll stop you myself," Cell replied.

But before he could do anything the extremely tall guy with the Mohawk jumped forward and picked Cell up in a tight bind. "Sixteen stop this!" Cell yelled as his feet left the ground.

"Stay back!" the man exclaimed. "I will kill him by self-destructing." Cell gasped and started to wriggle around in the clutches he now found himself in. Obviously he knew what was going to happen…And I was at the point that I didn't care.

"There is a powerful explosive inside of me that was meant to be a last resort," this guy, known as Sixteen, explained to everyone. "I am sorry that we androids caused so much pain and suffering. Cell, no matter how strong you have become you will not survive this explosion.

I ducked down and clamped my arms over my head. I knew I couldn't outrun any explosion, so my best bet was to hope I was covered enough. But after several seconds had passed I took a chance to look back at the scene. I heard someone from up top say that the bomb was removed…and Cell took that moment to break free of his temporary confinement. He blew the other android up, metal parts flying everywhere. I stepped back until my back hit solid rock wall.

"Now, let's try some friendly persuasion," Cell told the kid, picking up where he left off as if nothing had happened. He turned to count how many people stood around him. "That's easy enough…"

I was horrified at what happened next. I couldn't believe what had occurred before but this just tightened the noose completely and my stomach churned at what my eyes were taking in. Cell had leaned back and from that funny looking thing centered between his wings came several little creatures…seven, actually, and all of them looked exactly like Cell; seven little blue versions of Cell that giggled wickedly and stood no taller than his knees.

"Now, my dear children," he said merrily. "Those seven on that cliff are your enemies. Give them pain; kill them if it makes you happy!"

I took that moment to run. It was probably very stupid because I put myself out in the open for those little terrors to see, but they hadn't come at me. All of them flew up at the men on the cliff and tangled each one into a small fight. And from where I now stood next to a different rock, I saw that these little brats were stronger than one would think. They were beating the crap out of each and every one of them. Down on the ground here, the kid Gohan was yelling and begging for Cell to call them off.

"Cell stop!" I finally yelled out, making my presence vividly apparent.

Cell turned his head at me and gave me the meanest, most treacherous look I've ever seen on any living creature. "Stay out of this!" He yelled and then immediately turned to Gohan. I saw it too. The light that was glowing around the little thing was much brighter than it was before.

"I said to stop it!" He hollered, but Cell stood there with a broad smile. "STOP IT!" He yelled again.

I'm not completely sure on what came next. There was a lot of wind and everything went dark for a moment. I had ended up falling to my knees and blocked my eyes from whatever was going on. When I felt that things had calmed down, I took a gamble at seeing what was going on this time. The kid was hot, as if he were on fire. The glow was extremely bright and his hair was different— I guess bigger was the best way to describe it.

I looked at Cell and saw that he was a little shook up. Maybe he had pushed this kid too far and realized it was a mistake? Actually, I was definitely willing to bet on that when I saw the boy easily flying around and destroying all seven of the Cell replicas, and taking the little bag Cell had been holding away. Cell was pissed, to say the least.

"Look at what you've done!" He snarled. "No matter though, I can easily put you in your place. You will soon learn some manners and see what its like to fight a real warrior."

"Can it," the kid said almost so soft I hadn't heard him.

I could already see the rage building up inside of Cell. He was at the point where he was going to burst. If there's one thing I had learned about him it was the fact that he was extremely proud and very arrogant. The mere idea of this kid actually being stronger was probably too much for the guy to handle. Serves him right, if you ask me.

The only thing that Cell could do was try to take his opponent down. He jumped and flew to attack, but the boy was gone before Cell even finished his swing. He tried this several times, but the results were all the same.

"Hold still!" He shouted.

Cell was losing. It was plain as day and for some strange reason, even after I had seen first hand what he had done today, I was feeling sorry for him. The creature I had been threatened by, who had saved my life, who I had….yes, I'll say it—fallen in _love_ with, regardless of whether it was true devotion or mere lust, was losing his respectable battle.

"You've pushed me far enough," I heard him say. They had landed where the boy was not far in front of where I stood and Cell was directly across from him. "You leave me no choice but to finish this once and for all!"

My heart stopped when I realized Cell was going to move as he brought his hands together to create one of those balls of energy. I figured he'd move….he had to. I've faced this sort of thing before, but he had never actually gone through with it.

_But Layrial…he doesn't see you right now…he only sees that kid._

I took a step back and held my breath.

My luck still seemed to be with me because the kid moved and diverted the blast away from me. I scurried to a new hiding spot, but instead of hiding like I should've, I stood next to the rock. I don't know why; I guess it was only because I wanted to see what was going to happen.

I got my answer soon enough. Cell was getting the life beaten out of him. The boy now had the upper hand and Cell couldn't deflect all the punches and kicks that came at him. I wish this would all just stop!

And then I saw it….

That bright yellow light…

It came right for me.

I took one single step to the side, but that was as far as I could go. My feet had become numb and my legs were so stiff I couldn't even get them to bed to let me drop to the ground. My hands had become excessively cold and I couldn't tell if I was even breathing. But instead of watching death heading my way, I looked to see who had fired the blast. I should've known, though. Cell stood there, his arm outstretched in front of him.

However…he wasn't agitated like he had been only moments before when he yelled at me. He looked stunned…scared…helpless. I think I heard him yell a sharp, "NO!" I think I saw him move in a way to sprint towards me.

I think….I thought. But I can't be certain.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"_Miss…Miss, can you hear me…?"_

My eyes opened slowly and saw nothing but dirt. The only thing I felt that wasn't normal was some sort of stone jabbing my shoulder. I pushed myself up to sit on my knees and tossed the hair out of my face. Everything was silent and calm. I felt whole and unscathed—in fact, I was. The scrapes on my arms were gone and I wasn't as dirty as I remembered being before I passed out. I was in the middle of nowhere like I last remembered; only this time I was by myself.

"Miss, are you okay?"

I turned suddenly at the sound of a male voice I had never heard before. He knelt next to me with a look of concern on his scared face. I remembered seeing him with the spiked black hair and the orange outfit…but from where?

Of course; he was one of the guys that had arrived with that blonde guy—Goku—during the Cell Games. But what had happened to everyone else? I looked around hastily, my breath caught in my throat as I wondered what had happened to the others, especially Cell.

"You had me scared for a minute," he said as he took my arm to help me to my feet. "I didn't think the wish worked on you."

"Worked?" I asked, a little mixed up on the situation.

"Yeah—don't you remember dying?"

"I…" Now that he mentioned it I did. I remembered it as clear as day. Cell had killed me. He had finally killed me, but that time…I didn't think he honestly meant to.

"Cell…" I got out before taking a deep breath and collecting my thoughts. "Where is he?"

"Don't worry," the stranger said. "He's gone for good."

"And that boy?" I asked, remembering the kid that had gone through hell.

"He's just fine," came the reply. "He was awesome—it's too bad you missed it! He blew Cell into oblivion, although it turned out to be harder than everyone thought. Don't worry though, everyone made it out alive; well, except Goku, but it was his choice not to be brought back to life."

I had absolutely no clue as to what he was talking about. How the hell could someone be brought back to life? It didn't make any sense; it wasn't possible. Yet I had no desire to ask.

"My name's Yamcha, by the way," he said. "I remembered you had been out here and figured you'd need a way to get home since there's pretty much no way out except walking." He paused for a second and then gave me a thoughtful look. "Why were you out here anyway?"

I looked at the ground. I wasn't in the mood to go through it…I didn't think it was necessary for anyone else to know. The only two people that did were now dead, so the secret would stay with me. "It's a long story that I'd prefer not to get into."

"Oh," he replied.

I looked around for some sort of vehicle in hopes to change the subject, but there was nothing. "Did you fly here?"

"Yeah," Yamcha said. "I hope you don't mind—but my car's back home and I came here before going back there. Flying's not so bad though; I'll go slowly so it doesn't scare you."

"That's fine," I said. I could feel all of my ambition was gone. What I had learned was really hard for me to grasp. With some miracle all of Cell's victims were once again alive. Cell was dead and I was not. I was going to continue my life as if this had never happened when this morning I woke up thinking that I'd be dead by the late afternoon. How things became so twisted…

"Well, let's go! Where do you live?"

I had told him and he had carried me much like Cell had the first time I took a flight with him. Yamcha was gentle and talkative, but I wanted nothing more than to just get home and curl up in bed. I glanced over his shoulder at the crater in the desert floor. Only yesterday I had been sitting where it now was, wondering why the hell I chose to go back to be within twenty feet of the world's largest mass murderer.

During the brief flight I had learned the truth about how I was revived from death. There was some sort of magic dragon that, when all the balls (I wasn't sure exactly what that mean) were collected he could grant any wish. The wish that had been made was that all those killed by Cell return to life. Goku had been one of them, but he chose not to return for whatever reason. It didn't matter to me—my role in that whole ordeal was now over…as if it were just a dream.

I thanked Yamcha kindly and I half thought he expected me to invite him in, but I graciously closed the door when he got the hint and walked away. I made it up to my apartment, slowly, and entered. I stood in front of the door for a long time before making my way into the living room.

Stupidly, the first thing I had done was turn on the T.V. and sat down to see what was going on around the world. As I should've guessed, every news station was the same thing. Although it wasn't completely as I thought. Reporters surrounded a stand where Hercule stood proudly. As I listened I discovered everyone thought he had defeated Cell. How the hell that came up, I don't know…and I didn't care.

I flipped the set off and curled my legs onto the sofa and hugged the big pillow next to me with my arms. I started to think. Not just of what had happened in the last week, but what I thought I was remembering from dying. I could vaguely remember Cell yelling and trying to get to me before everything stopped.

The thing on my mind, though, was what happened before Yamcha woke me up. I was standing in a large room, being ushered out through a large entry from which I had come. There were hundreds, if not thousands of people of all shapes, sizes, colors and textures lined up to enter that building, but for some reason I was leaving. Some strange looking blue man with a horn on top of his head was telling me I was going back. I didn't understand.

As I moved past the crowd I saw him. Standing a little bit further up the street was Cell, bound in chains that glowed a bright green. Two of the same strange looking men, one red, one blue, stood on either side of him. I saw his repugnance shift slightly into a small smile when his eyes had set on me.

We were only a few feet apart when he stopped walking, the two strange men stopping and snarling at him. He ignored them.

"Well Layrial, it seems that things have taken a complete turn around, much to my dismay," he said in that elegant voice. "But one question still remains on my mind. Did you love me in life?"

"Yes."

He smiled at me, but his escorts pushed him to move along. My attendant had started walking again, but I remained in place for one more second to watch Cell. "Cell!" I called out. I just had to know; after all I thought I had the right. "Did you love me?"

He glanced over his shoulder, and gave me a cheeky smirk. "If that's what you want to call it," he replied. Then he was gone. And I remembered no more.

It must have been a complete dream because that's all I remembered from it. I had no idea where I was or what I was doing there, just that Cell was in the same place for a few moments.

My phone ran just then and scared me half to death. The silence was broken by the annoying ring. I reached over to the table where the phone was conveniently located and picked it up.

"Hello?" I said dryly.

"Layrial! Oh my God, thank-you…"

"Mom?"

"What were you doing out there? You father and I saw you on the television! We were worried sick. I'm so glad to hear you're still alive. Thank goodness for that man, Hercule. He saved my baby's life." I snorted but she didn't pay attention. "You need to quit that job of yours—risking your life for a damn story isn't worth it, honey."

"Yeah, don't worry about that," I told her. "I'm starting over after all of this."

"You sound depressed, dear…what happened? They didn't fire you, did they?"

"No, Mom," I said. And then I thought about it. Why the hell was I depressed? There was no reason to be. Cell wasn't some guy I could've married. Absolutely not! He was a horror to everyone's existence. To think that I had gone back out there, gotten myself into trouble and then had the nerve to let mind linger on a voice and damn pair of eyes that meant nothing in terms of respect was totally absurd.

"I'm just really tired, but I'm fine now. Look, I'll give you a call in the morning, alright? In the meantime, ask Dad to check out the local listings for apartments. I think I'm going to move."

"Really?"

"Yeah….I'll talk to you later, okay?"

I had hung up the phone and made my way to the sliding glass door that went to the small deck. I had a perfect view of the sunset. It was gorgeous. And although I had just thought all of those things about Cell, only one wasn't true. I think, deep down, there was some sort of respect he had for me…and that dream I had told me so. His eyes and smile had told me so.

The End

**The Credits and whatnot: **I hope you guys aren't disappointed. I know many of you wanted them to end up together in the end, but honestly, it never would've worked out with the rest of the DBZ world. I had done that once in a fic and now that I look back on it its not something I wished I had done. And if you think about it….it would've destroyed the fact that (as you all claim) I kept Cell in character. Think about it—it's not something he'd do. He had agreed to take her after he destroyed the earth, but with him not doing so I couldn't see him saying "Well, I'll be good and go settle down with this human girl." You think? I'll admit that for a while I was thinking of killing both of them off, but it was unrealistic because of the wish from the dragon. Even if Layrial had remained dead, her life's work would've brought her to Heaven, not Hell with Cell. I'll answer your next suggestion too—Cell couldn't get out of Hell (aka HFIL…thank you dubbed version) and Layrial was a mere human with no powers, so she couldn't have gone down there like Goku had. And he needed to die…he was bad, unfortunately. There was also thoughts of having Layrial see Cell die, but that didn't happen for several reasons: 1) I was too lazy to keep writing battle scenes ;) 2) I had a better idea that would come out way better (yes, I actually sat there and made notes on which would be better) 3) I didn't want to put her through seeing him spit up Android 18 (which is gross…), revert to his former body (which I despise, if you must know) and blow himself up. Yeah…

I hope, though, that their relationship was justified for you Cell/Layrial lovers ;) I went over this chapter at least 3 if not 4 times because I wanted to make sure it was "perfect" so to speak. And I'm damn proud of it too…my longest yet. 3 months later I finished with 21 chapters, 88 pages, and 51,783 words (which is _not_ including any chapter numbers, titles, or notes I've added at the beginning or end of any chapter). Those numbers are all strictly story. This chapter alone is 5,474 words XD Impressive if I may say so…for a Cell fic ;)

I also owe all my steady reviewers (**aquasage**, **Draguna**, **Black Mors**, **Thomas Drovin**, **reindeer sausage**, **seruzerousygirl**, **SSJSkaterTrunks,** **chibibaka1**, and **chesterzerousy**) a monstrous thanks for their support and understanding throughout this entire fic. All of you have made it a point to review several if not most of the chapters and many of you influenced some of the decisions I've made along the way. A big thanks again and I'm glad you all thought Cell was kept in character. I'm glad to know I did what I went out to do :) There were several times where I wasn't sure if I would be able to finish it because of lack of inspiration or if I had become bored, but knowing that you guys were waiting was enough to keep it going.

And I know many of you will ask, or will perhaps think/hope that there will be a sequel, as that is often the case when I finish my stories. I'm not sure, honestly. I'd like to and I had one small thought for it, but whether it'll happen or not can't be said for certain. If you have me on your alert list or check my profile from time to time, you'll know. Also, feel free to email me if you have any questions that I didn't clarify here.

So this is it…farewell.

--Finished 1/3/06, 12:04am-- yes….I was at the point where I had to finish it, thus I stayed up later than I wanted. ;)


End file.
